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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
4 PRC Generals executed over last weeks audio about war mobilization
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Gen. Mark Milley tells West Point graduates technology will change the future of war
[Washington Examiner] Army Gen. Mark Milley warned cadets graduating from West Point about the future of war as their commencement speaker Saturday.

Milley, who has served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2019, warned cadets that international conflicts will only increase amid Ukraine's conflict with Russia and President Joe Biden's recent redeployment of troops to Somalia.

"The world you are being commissioned into has the potential for significant international conflict between great powers. And that potential is increasing, not decreasing," Milley said. "Whatever overmatch we, the United States, enjoyed militarily for the last 70 years is closing quickly, and the United States will be, in fact, we already are challenged in every domain of warfare: space, cyber, maritime, air, and of course land."
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 00:15 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
D'OH! 😑 it has in every war for 6000 years.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/22/2022 6:58 Comments || Top||

#2  In the end, you still need someone on the ground to occupy the objective.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/22/2022 7:18 Comments || Top||

#3  "We will fight our enemies' superior technology with...pronouns!"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 7:25 Comments || Top||

#4  The rumors are correct. He has just a dazzling grasp of history.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/22/2022 9:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Once I had to go to a meeting, I think in the 1980s and the presenter had a slide that said "Computers are getting faster".

He had all sorts of other obvious stuff like, "We will challenged to utilize computers to their increasing capacity."

Some of the management actually took notes on this.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/22/2022 14:58 Comments || Top||

#6  It is a big disappointment to put with four years of service academy life and then receive your diploma from someone you don’t respect. Good news though, some other slobs will likely get a Biden or Harris speech and handshake.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 15:55 Comments || Top||

#7  In this age of MonkeyPox, I'd rather just get a handshake from Kamala TYVM
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 16:03 Comments || Top||

#8  You could wear lunch lady plastic gloves underneath some oversized white regulation ones.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 18:05 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
WHO Warns Monkeypox Could Accelerate During Summer, CDC Alerts US Doctors As Virus Reaches 13 Countries
[ZH] More on the story from yesterday
Health authorities in Europe, North America, and Australia have begun to investigate an outbreak of monkeypox, raising concerns that a broader outbreak of the viral infection could be underway in the West.

Monkeypox is a viral disease typically endemic to central and western Africa, but since the start of May, dozens of confirmed cases have been reported in several countries outside of the continent. Many more suspected cases are being investigated.

Europe should expect a wave of monkeypox cases in the coming months, according to Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization's top official on the continent.

"As we enter the summer season... with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission [of monkeypox] could accelerate," Kluge said on Friday.

The number of the infected could rise because "the cases currently being detected are among those engaging in sexual activity," and many don't recognize the symptoms, he added.

The current spread of the virus in Western Europe is "atypical" as it was previously confined mostly to central and west Africa, the WHO regional director for Europe added.

"All but one of the recent cases have no relevant travel history to areas where monkeypox is endemic," Kluge said.

Kluge's concerns were shared by UK Health Security Agency's chief medical adviser, Susan Hopkins, who said she expected "this increase to continue in the coming days and for more cases to be identified in the wider community."

The CDC noted that in the case of the United Kingdom, there was a "temporally clustered group of cases involving four people who self-identify as gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men."

"Some evidence suggests that cases among [men who have sex with men] may be epidemiologically linked; the patients in this cluster were identified at sexual health clinics," it stated. "This is an evolving investigation and public health authorities hope to learn more about routes of exposure in the coming days."
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 07:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just as with AIDS, they're too PC to come out and say it directly
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 8:07 Comments || Top||

#2 

For some deeper Medical details see this report:

In part quoting:
"Essentially all of the current cases in the west which we are seeing in the news are among men who have sex with men, and appear to be due to close physical contact."

Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/22/2022 9:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Did you know the CDC's shorthand for "men who have sex with men" is MSM?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 9:03 Comments || Top||


#5  Out of the hanger. Fred's timeless monkey tattoo graphic.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 9:14 Comments || Top||

#6  My guess is D.C. and San Francisco will have major outbreaks.
Posted by: Xyz || 05/22/2022 9:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Hopefully it clears out a lot of the trash in congress.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/22/2022 10:53 Comments || Top||

#8  Monkeypox leaves scaring, almost Biblical like the mark of Cain, "It spreads from one person to another through prolonged close contact (by inhaling the infected droplets), or direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated objects, such as bedding or clothes. It does not spread via casual contact. Pitted scars and/or areas of lighter or darker skin may remain after scabs have fallen off."
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/22/2022 12:33 Comments || Top||

#9  D.C. hmmmm. Perhaps we can Amazon them some bananas.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 12:35 Comments || Top||

#10  #5 B - I had to look for it elsewhere. Seems it disappeared from Fred's library, but also really tied into this story
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 13:10 Comments || Top||

#11  Related:
Monkeypox: 2022-05-21
Monkeypox: 2018-09-09
Monkeypox: 2003-06-09


Do the oh-so-clever scientists at the CDC and WHO not do literature searches anymore? Any bets that any of the cases were exposed to exotic pets from Africa? Or exotic people ditto?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 13:10 Comments || Top||

#12  Hey, didja notice there's an election coming up?
Biden: "Everybody" should be concerned about monkeypox
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 13:49 Comments || Top||


#14  ^ Exactly! [Hot Air]
The Gran Canarian pride festival attended by 80,000 from Britain and across Europe is being investigated after being linked to numerous monkeypox cases in Madrid, Italy and Tenerife.

Held between May 5 and May 15, Maspalomas Pride attracts visitors from across the continent.

It was attended by people who have tested positive for the monekypox virus afterwards, with public health services from the Canary Islands now investigating the any links between the cases and the LGBT+ celebrations.

‘Among the 30 or so diagnosed in Madrid, there are several who attended the event, although it is not yet possible to know if one of them is patient zero of this outbreak or if they all got infected there,’ a health source told El País.
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 16:54 Comments || Top||

#15  How long before FB, Google, et al, claim this is inflammatory or anti-LGBTQIAHJKLMNOP to discuss this?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 16:55 Comments || Top||

#16  ^ I'm sure it's lighting up their systems this very moment.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 17:45 Comments || Top||

#17  If only we had a Ministry of Truth Department of Disinformation!!!
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/22/2022 20:42 Comments || Top||


Jane Fonda Talks About Being Closer To Death At 85
But not close enough.
by James Conrad

[TheMix] The Hollywood star Jane Fonda is opening up in a new interview about how she is “closer to death” at the age of 85.

‘I’M CLOSER TO DEATH’
“I’m super-conscious that I’m closer to death,” Fonda said, according to Fox News. “And it doesn’t really bother me that much.”

“What bothers me is that my body is, you know basically not mine!” she added. “My knees are not mine, my hips are not mine, my shoulder’s not mine. You’re looking at somebody who’s only me from here up.”
...and then only those bits from here up that couldn’t be “improved” with botox and plastic surgery...
Fonda has stayed as busy as ever, recently completing work on the movie Moving On with her good friend Lily Tomlin.

“The fact is if you’re alive and relatively healthy at an older – I mean, I’m almost 85,” she continued. “The fact that I’m still alive and working, wow, who cares if I don’t have my old joints? And I can’t ski or bike or run anymore? … You know, you can be really old at 60, and you can be really young at 85. Health!”
My mother is doing fine at 96, though she gave up her car keys a few years ago. I’m not at 60. A lot of it appears to be luck beyond genetics and environment.
Posted by: badanov || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Body do not heals if you don't sleep and drink water.
Posted by: Kofi Panda2845 || 05/22/2022 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  “My knees are not mine, my hips are not mine, my shoulder’s not mine....

My **** is not mine.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 4:36 Comments || Top||

#3  But yet she ain't over the line.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/22/2022 9:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Keep working on it, Jane. The rest of us don't care.
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/22/2022 9:59 Comments || Top||

#5  "my body is, you know basically not mine" True, but not just her body. We're stewards, not owners.
Posted by: James || 05/22/2022 12:01 Comments || Top||

#6  We had a urinal in our Headquarters Building we inherited from the USMC Navigator School Detachment at Mather AFB in the early 90's. It had a picture of Hanoi Jane dead center, to the delight of everyone who saw it. She deserved a reckoning with the Great Beyond long before now!
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/22/2022 12:44 Comments || Top||

#7  What must it be like to live one’s entire life without a single original thought?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 13:45 Comments || Top||

#8  It's taking far too long.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 05/22/2022 20:31 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Wells Fargo held ‘fake interviews' to feign diversity efforts, employees claim
[Washington Examiner] Wells Fargo routinely interviewed women and people of color to record diversity efforts in its hiring practices despite already offering the positions to other candidates, several employees have alleged.

The banking company has a long-standing informal policy that employers interview "diverse" candidates, defined by the company as women or people of color, for open positions. However, several employees said they began to realize candidates were often interviewed for positions that had already been offered to someone else.

"You feel very uncomfortable being on the other side of that table doing an interview, and you know that candidate has a zero chance of getting the job — zero," Joe Bruno, a former Wells Fargo executive, told Action News. "These are real human beings on the other side of the table. They have families. I have a family. It’s just wrong."
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 03:43 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Same game Government civilian personnel offices (CPO's) and recruiters have played for decades.

Cover for...'pre-selection.' Wells Fargo's reverse application.

Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 3:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Dealt with local government on the same issue. My resume was so good that they actually had to withdraw the job announcement to 'rewrite' it, aka post stealthily later for their pre-selected candidate. Kept him/her from the job though for another six weeks.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/22/2022 7:17 Comments || Top||

#3  The shorter the announcement window, the more likely an inside 'pre-selection' is in the works.

Quals are written specifically listing Pre-selection' candidate's unique background and skills.

Eugene the inside guy gets the nod, but is told the process is very sensitive and can be easily queered if too much is said. Eugene's lips are sealed.


Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 7:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Everyone does this. It is a complete waste of time mandated by fear of the EEOC.
Posted by: Tom || 05/22/2022 14:11 Comments || Top||

#5  I remember a case where the quals were done to fit a preselected person but where the boilerplate quals ended up disqualifying her. So they revoked the position announcement and reissued it two months later after the person had met the boilerplate qual
Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/22/2022 15:03 Comments || Top||

#6  I should point out the selected person was a black female who mismanaged her staff so badly, almost all the responsibility was removed and then the staff was removed leaving her basically as a special assistant but with the title of a staff leader.

Eventually her only job was to show up at meetings where they needed a black female to be in the picture.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/22/2022 15:05 Comments || Top||

#7  ^ Sounds like the new White House press secretary.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 15:20 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Journalists, general, militiamen arrested in Ethiopia's Amhara
[Garowe] A prominent Æthiopian general critical of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government appeared in court on Friday after being detained this week, his wife said, amid the arrests of some ethnic Amhara political activists and journalists.
Has PM Ahmed outgrown his role as a classical liberal hero and become just another standard issue African strongman?
Brigadier General Tefera Mamo commanded the Amhara region's forces until February when he was removed without explanation. Amhara forces backed Abiy's federal troops against rebellious forces in northern Tigray when conflict erupted there in 2020.

Last Sunday, Tefera gave a TV interview in which he criticized Abiy's strategy against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and also accused Amhara members of the prime minister's ruling party of being motivated by money.

Menen Haile, Tefera's wife, said he had been remanded in jug for ten days.

"The police said they suspected him working to forcefully dismantle the constitutional order," she told Rooters.

Tefera was arrested in Æthiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Monday, Menen said.

The president and front man of Amhara's regional administration and police did not respond to requests for comment.

Critics say Abiy, who won a Nobel Peace Prize after taking power as a reformist in 2018, is cracking down on dissent around Æthiopia. He says he is guaranteeing stability and law and order in the multi-ethnic nation.

Daniel Bekele, head of the Æthiopian Human Rights Commission, said his team was monitoring Tefera's detention.

"We are gravely concerned about the wave of arrests," he told Rooters.

The federal government issued a statement saying it was "taking a wide range of measures in the Amhara region against groups involved in the illegal arms trade, looting and destroying property of individuals, killings, and creating conflict among the public."

CLASHES AND ARRESTS
Tefera's case comes during reports of arrests and a clash in one town in Amhara, Æthiopia's second-most populous region, where a 2019 uprising led by a dissident general killed the regional president and chief of army staff.

On Thursday, allied federal and regional troops clashed in Motta with members of a volunteer militia known as Fano, according to Fano member Tafere Damete. He gave no more details.

Fano had been helping federal and Amhara soldiers in the Tigray war, and in his TV interview, Tefera had said the movement should not be sidelined.

A student leader, Eshetu Getinet, told Rooters that two Fano members were tossed into the calaboose in recent days in the regional capital and operations were underway to pick up more.

Nine members of the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA), an opposition party, were also arrested in two towns on May 18, said the Amhara Association of America.

"We urge the government to immediately stop the abduction of NAMA members and leaders, Fano leaders, youths, those who are legally armed, military officers who served their country tirelessly," said a statement signed by five NAMA parliamentarians.

Five journalists from local media outlet Ashara, which has focused on recent reporting on Fano, were also detained on Thursday, their colleague told Rooters.

"Those who took them were wearing a uniform of Amhara special forces, Amhara police, and anti-riot forces. I was hiding in a toilet when they took them," he said, adding that they shut down Ashara's offices in Bahir Dar.

Amhara officials, military, and police had no comment.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Ethiopia’s Tigray forces announce release of thousands of prisoners of war
[Garowe] The Tigray rebel forces fighting Æthiopia's federal army say they will release 4,000 prisoners of war as part of an amnesty.

The Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front
...(TPLF), their armed wing is the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). Originally a Hoxhaist (ultra-Stalinist) ethnic liberation movement stood up in the 1970s, they ruled Ethiopia from the time they overthrew their Marxist predecessors in 1991 until Nobel Peace Prize laureate (for signing a peace treaty with Eritrea) Abiy Ahmed Ali, scion of the Oromos and formerly a successful general under the TPLF regime, was elected prime minister in 2018. He was lauded for all the pro-Western democracy reforms he introduced, until he was sucked into China’s One Belt - One Road project, and incidentally stopped sharing tax income with the Tigray provincial government, whereupon they decided that taking back the country would be more profitable. The TPLF is supported by Egypt, Sudan, and the anti-China West, while the Abiy Ahmed government is supported by China and Eritrea...
announced the release on Twitter Friday, amid an escalating war of words between Æthiopian and Tigray region officials over provocations and preparations for another round of full-blown war.

The Tigray forces decided to release 4,208 prisoners of war with an amnesty, out of which 401 are women, according to the tweet.

"Most of them were captured (in fighting) outside of the Tigray region, and others joined the fight in a forced conscription," Birhane Kebede, coordinator of the prisoners' center in the region, was quoted as saying by the regional ruling party. Birhane said those with disabilities, illnesses and women who gave birth in detention were given priority for release.

The decision to release the prisoners followed weeks of talks held between military commanders on both sides, according to a foreign diplomat in Addis Ababa, who said talks at the political level have not yet taken place.

This is the second time Tigray forces have announced the release of prisoners of war. In July 2021 they announced the release of 1,000 federal army soldiers after parading them in front of the public.

"These releases are probably both a sign of goodwill and also of the acute food shortage in Tigray," William Davison, the International Crisis Group's Senior Analyst for Æthiopia, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

"Now that aid flows to the (Tigray) region have increased amid a prolonged lull in large-scale fighting, the federal government should restore vital services such as banking and advance the grinding of the peace processor by opening talks on a permanent ceasefire with Tigray's leaders," he said.

Æthiopia's deadly civil war that erupted in November 2020 after federal officials accused Tigray forces of attacking an army base in the region is believed to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people.

Aid groups say federal forces sealed off the region, especially since July 2021, making very difficult the delivery of food and other desperately needed aid. In recent months the Æthiopian has relaxed the restrictions somewhat to allow a better flow of aid into the Tigray region.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
771 Azov Battalion troops surrendered to Russian-led forces in Mariupol
[HODHODYEMENNEWS] The Russian Ministry of Defence has announced that a total of 771 members of the Nazi unit known as the Azov Battalion surrendered at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol during the past 24 hours.

In addition, hundreds of Ukrainian military targets, including command headquarters, have been destroyed.

"During the past 24 hours, 771 militants of the Nazi Azov battalion surrendered at the Azovstal plant, including 80 maimed, and all are receiving the necessary medical services," the ministry’s front man, Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a press briefing today.

Thus, the total number of militants of the Azov Brigade who have surrendered since May 16th has reached up to 1,730.

Konashenkov added that "During the past 24 hours, using high-precision Russian air missiles, 7 headquarters and 11 depots of weapons were destroyed in several towns in [areas claimed by] the Donetsk People’s Republic, in addition to destroying 26 sites for mobilising manpower and combat equipment, a battery of the S-300 anti-air system in Nikolaev province and a battery of the Buk-M1 anti-aircraft system."

Konashenkov noted that operational and tactical aviation targeted two command headquarters and 58 sites for mobilising manpower and combat equipment, in addition to eliminating 340 Nazi Death Eaters and disabling 62 pieces of combat equipment.

Konashenkov said that the missile and artillery forces also destroyed six command headquarters, 295 manpower and combat equipment mobilisation sites, 43 artillery and mortar positions, and two radar stations, as well as 15 drones.

Love the graphic, Fred
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats

#1  What’s the over/under line for the percentage who are executed.
Posted by: Greater the Anonymous5721 || 05/22/2022 2:23 Comments || Top||

#2  What’s the over/under line for the percentage who are executed.

Russians have made it clear: no executions.
Posted by: badanov || 05/22/2022 7:37 Comments || Top||

#3  And we believe that why, badanov?
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/22/2022 7:51 Comments || Top||

#4  And we believe that why?

Because, if they go back on that assurance, it leaves everyone else in the field with the understanding that for each of them it may be a fight to the death.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 8:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Ooo, bad news. These Nazis were some of Ukraine's best fighters. Oh well, they have more.
Posted by: Bertie Lumumba1577 || 05/22/2022 8:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Interesting that the US and British press are no longer featuring Ukrainian developments at the top of the news. Instead of leading with Ukraine, The New York Times screams "How Donald Trump's 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures" - that's an old leftover story. Why is it such big news now?

The second story beneath the warmed-over story from 2020 is a series of five articles (!) about historical crimes and conquest in Haiti. Yes, Haiti. Why Haitian history? Why now?

The mystery becomes clear when, below the gold, we see the top story from that forgotten conflict in what's-its-name... oh Ukraine. That one. The story is that Russia, fresh off its huge victory in Mariupol, has almost entirely cut off some 20,000 Ukrainian troops in the crucial supply and communications hub of Severodonetsk. There's just one supply road left I captured and the Russian forces, 3km away, are now pounding it with artillery barrages. So Russia's on the brink of another hugely important, decisive victory in the Donbas.

And no more news from Kharkiv. No mention either of the Ukrainian harvest that's down 50% from last year, or the destroyed transportation and fuel infrastructure that's needed to being what's left to market, or the blockade that prevents anything leaving Ikraine's remaining ports...

Now we know why the Times is suddenly talking Trump! and Haitian History. We know now why Austin's so desperate to talk to Shoigu, why the Europeans are rushing forward with peace plans and why suddenly we're seeing editorials and opinion pieces urging Biden to de-escalate and get the Ukrainians to settle: this turnaround is because the Russians are winning.
Posted by: Billy Budd || 05/22/2022 13:54 Comments || Top||

#7  So, up until now the Russians have been losing. Duly noted.
Posted by: Matt || 05/22/2022 14:12 Comments || Top||

#8  The New York Times is definitely the place to go for propaganda and hysteria, Mr. Budd. Well spotted!
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 14:21 Comments || Top||

#9  Yes, seeing the same phenom across the London press. Top stories are about cost-of-living increases, covid, monkeypox. Nothing at all in the Sunday Times' lead articles about Ukraine. Mail's only Ukraine story, far down from the top, is "Russian special forces' Belgian Malinous dog switches sides."

They're desperate to change the subject because Mariupol's unconditional surrender is a disastrous defeat that changes the course of the war.

An entire unit wiped out and its commanders killed or taken prisoner. The biggest haul of prisoners by any side in 8 years of fighting. Let's talk fuel prices, monkeypox, Johnny and Amber. Anything but Ukraine.
Posted by: Astaire || 05/22/2022 14:28 Comments || Top||

#10  So, up until now the Russians have been losing.

What a stupid comment. No one was winning, but now the balance appears to have shifted decisively on one direction.

You baited us the other day with nonstop repetition of the same question. Are you just trolling us? If so, I'll just ignore you.
Posted by: Astaire || 05/22/2022 14:34 Comments || Top||

#11  Please feel entirely free to ignore me. I can deal with it.

Posted by: Matt || 05/22/2022 14:43 Comments || Top||

#12  So, up until now the Russians have been losing.

I think it is important to draw a distinction between the media battlespace where the Russians have been getting their asses kicked and the actual kinetic battlespace where they seem to be grinding on towards achieving their objectives. Don't take my word for it, look at a map.

The fall of Asovstal/Mariupol is not a sudden dramatic change. That was a foregone conclusion ever since the Russians took control of the region. It has prompted a noticeable shift in the media coverage of the war as noted upstream.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/22/2022 15:04 Comments || Top||

#13  The Russians just used Kalibr missiles to destroy a huge batch of NATO weaponry and materiel cached near the Malin railway station in the Zhytomyr region. No mention whatsoever of that breaking story either.

Biden's $15 billion in new materiel is not just too little too late. The Russians are showing they can locate the shipments and destroy them before they reach the battlefield. The MIC will collect their loot, however.
Posted by: Billy Budd || 05/22/2022 15:11 Comments || Top||

#14  Russia now has complete military control of Luhansk, one of the two breakaway republics. Final push underway to cut off the 20,000 or so Ukrainian troops that are encircled and trapped now in Severodonetsk. They're shelling the sole remaining supply route.
Posted by: Palmerston || 05/22/2022 15:29 Comments || Top||

#15  Let me conspiracy guess: Billy Budd (1962 movie), Fred Astiare, and Palmerston (still trying to figure that one out): Hmmmm
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 15:41 Comments || Top||

#16  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/scandal-lusty-lord-palmerston-who-14300168
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/22/2022 15:46 Comments || Top||

#17  Much of the civilian aid to Ukraine is going to pay the Ukrainian civil servants' salaries. This recalls the civilian aid to Afghanistan (also to the Republic of South Vietnam in the 1960s).

Uncle Sam has taken over as the Ukrainians' paymaster, just like in Afghanistan. This is implicit recognition that the Ukrainian economy like the Afghan economy before it has collapsed.
Posted by: GAO Gaijin || 05/22/2022 15:51 Comments || Top||

#18  Thx NoMoreBS
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 16:01 Comments || Top||

#19  The officers will be staying in the Katyn Woods Motel.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 16:02 Comments || Top||

#20  ^ Ouch
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 16:03 Comments || Top||

#21  the Katyn Woods Motel.

You can check out anytime, but you can never leave.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/22/2022 16:37 Comments || Top||

#22  "What's that area behind the hotel? Smells like a burn pit"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 16:58 Comments || Top||

#23  The Ukraine adventure isn't Russia's Afghanistan; it's America's Afghan War all over. Bidens taking on all the obligations of the bankrupt Afghan er Ukrainian government. Another $2-3 trillion down the tubes.
Posted by: GAO Gaijin || 05/22/2022 17:52 Comments || Top||

#24  #19 and #21 for Snark O' Day™
The repeated calls for "We Kill (neo-)Nazis Lots!" has me expecting War Crimes.
Posted by: magpie || 05/22/2022 18:25 Comments || Top||

#25  /\ ...and farces like the War Crimes Trial of Erich Hartmann, WW2 German fighter pilot.
*Not* that I think any side in this mess is pure as driven now...
Posted by: magpie || 05/22/2022 18:29 Comments || Top||

#26  it's America's Afghan War all over.

The talk in DC is that Obama was the one pushing the line behind the other day's NY Times editorial grilling Biden, questioning every aspect of his strategy and urging Ukraine to recognize reality and make "significant territorial concessions."

Word is that the Kalorama crowd is distancing itself (and fellow colored girl Harris) from Biden's fiasco.

That sounds right. Obama hated the Brits and doesn't give a damn about Ukraine ("blankets," anyone?) or Europe. Obama and his wife have more sympathy for Africa than for Europe. And we know whose side the Africans are on.

Veiled racist sentiments are not our style. Please refrain from using them.

Posted by: Billy Budd || 05/22/2022 18:43 Comments || Top||

#27  Wordis that the Kalorama crowd is distancing itself (and fellow colored girl Harris) from Biden's fiasco.

You ain't from around here, are you? Begone
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 19:01 Comments || Top||

#28  /.\ No, no, Frank. He's providing entertainment for us all.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 05/22/2022 20:14 Comments || Top||

#29  Troll bait to blame us for accepting it, CS
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 20:54 Comments || Top||

#30  The talk in DC is that Obama was the one pushing the line behind the other day's NY Times editorial grilling Biden, questioning every aspect of his strategy and urging Ukraine to recognize reality and make "significant territorial concessions."

Some say it was Obama; others are pointing at the Clintons. It's clear that either way, the Democrats are preparing to stick Biden with the blame for this fiasco when the shit hits the fan.
Posted by: GAO Gaijin || 05/22/2022 21:15 Comments || Top||

#31  My money's on Obama. There's huge resentment of Ukraine within the Black community for pushing the racism issue off the front burner. Look at all the stories whining about the Europeans' disparate treatment of Ukrainian and non-white refugees.
Posted by: Patrocles || 05/22/2022 21:19 Comments || Top||

#32  Obama is more likely. The Clintons have more urgent issues to worry about now.
Posted by: Billy Budd || 05/22/2022 21:24 Comments || Top||

#33  One more reason Obama's likely behind the anti-Biden anti-Ukraine NY Times Editorial piece: he and Ben Rhodes have always resented the influence of what Rhodes called the foreign-policy Blob: the Pentagon and the neo-cons. They're anti-interventionists. They resented being stuck with the Iraq and Afghanistan hot messes and they don't want Biden's successor, whoever she may be, to be stuck with the next hot mess.

The Democrats' progressive wing sees that the world is splitting into two camps, Western Europe vs the Global South (and China), and they want to make sure that the USA is not pitted against the Global South. They have a strong argument actually...Eisenhower and Kennedy would have agreed.
Posted by: Billy Budd || 05/22/2022 22:10 Comments || Top||

#34  Good points. Ben Rhodes is probably doing lots of whispering at the NYTimes HQ these days
Posted by: GAO Gaijin || 05/22/2022 22:15 Comments || Top||

#35  Obama and his wife have more sympathy for Africa than for Europe.

Not really, no. Former President Obama only really cares about the Muslim world, and of them, the Muslim Brotherhooders, Iran (Shiite version of the Muslim Brotherhood), and the Palestinians (because they’re a knife at the throat of Jewish Israel).
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 22:37 Comments || Top||

#36  Looking at the top two stories in the Times today, the warning shot to Biden from the Times seems like, "Stay on message: Trump + Racism. Ukraine is distracting from the message. Wrap it up, bro"
Posted by: Oye Como Va || 05/22/2022 22:44 Comments || Top||

#37  trailingwife, Iran's allied with Russia. Obama told the Russians he'd "have more flexibility after the election." He's arguing for flexibility toward Russia. He's no friend of Ukraine ("blankets," LOL)
Posted by: Oye Como Va || 05/22/2022 23:03 Comments || Top||

#38  Stay on message: Trump + Racism

Exactly.
Look at tomorrow's (Monday's) lead stories in the NYTimes:

Trump: Kushner’s and Mnuchin’s Quick Pivots to Business With the Gulf

Racism: Haiti's Lost Billions

Ukraine's below the fold, again.
Posted by: Billy Budd || 05/22/2022 23:14 Comments || Top||

#39  He's arguing for flexibility toward Russia. He's no friend of Ukraine ("blankets," LOL)

A palpable point, Oye Como Va. So very many reasons not to have voted for him, back in the day.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 23:19 Comments || Top||

#40  Ukraine's below the fold, again.

Wow. Two days in a row, right after the editorial, Ukraine elbowed out by Haitian history, Jared Kushner and tales from the 2020 election. That was really fast. Someone's got Dean Basquet's ear.

Sucks for the Ukrainians.
Posted by: Patrocles || 05/22/2022 23:23 Comments || Top||

#41  Sucks for the Ukrainians.

Great for the MIC - they've got their loot. $15 billion of it, booked and billed. Regardless of when Biden cuts and runs.
Posted by: Billy Budd || 05/22/2022 23:27 Comments || Top||

#42  Makes you feel sorry for Biden. He's too far gone mentally to realize he got stuck with a bag of shit, and the wiser and more cynical elements in his party are preparing to ditch him.
Posted by: Patrocles || 05/22/2022 23:36 Comments || Top||

#43  Biden... got stuck with a bag of shit, and the wiser and more cynical elements in his party are preparing to ditch him

Couldn't happen to a nicer nastier guy
Posted by: Oye Como Va || 05/22/2022 23:43 Comments || Top||


Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: May 21st, 2022
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] 22:58 The Bundeswehr has unnecessary Marder infantry fighting vehicles that Berlin does not provide to Ukraine, writes Bild with reference to an internal document of the German Ministry of Defense, which was at the disposal of the publication. "Ukraine urgently needs these Marder infantry fighting vehicles," Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk commented on the publication.

22:56 The leader of the "DPR" Pushilin said that the Ukrainian military could still remain at Azovstal, now the premises are being checked.

22:54 Zelensky said that he had spoken on the phone with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on his initiative: "We talked about cooperation in the defense industry, the need to accelerate the sixth package of sanctions and unblock Ukrainian ports. He thanked for the unconditional support of Ukraine on the way to the EU."

22:32 Portugal sent a plane with military equipment to Ukraine, Prime Minister António Costa said following talks with Zelensky in Kiev: "We sent military support. At first it was non-lethal, then lethal weapons were sent as part of requests, which were sent to Ukraine in accordance with our capabilities, because we do not have all the resources that Ukraine needs now. This work of ours has not yet been completed. This will continue further. Now, a plane with military equipment is just arriving through Poland, which will be sent to Ukraine in accordance with specific requests."

22:30 Arestovich says that the most difficult situation is now at the front - in the direction of Bakhmut, where the Russians have deployed additional forces. According to him, they are trying to advance to the west and north of Popasna. Arestovich called the situation "unpleasant".

22:28 Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna said that Ukraine has done everything it could to join NATO. According to her, Kyiv considers its application for membership in the alliance valid, is waiting for actions from NATO and does not believe that the ball is now on the side of Ukraine.

22:17 Vice-President of the European Parliament Katarina Barly called for an oil embargo against Russia without Hungary, given that Orban "leads the EU by the nose." She also called the demand to provide the country with billions in aid in exchange for consent "almost arrogant", given that "everyone knows where the money will go."

The EP vice president accused Orban of using the oil embargo controversy for his own political games. And the money he demands will be distributed in a corrupt way in the pocket of his "family and clans," Barley suggested, calling Hungary openly corrupt.

21:44 Moody's rating agency has downgraded Ukraine's long-term credit rating from Caa2 to Caa3, with a "negative" outlook.

21:36 Slutsky clarified that, in his opinion, a tribunal should decide the fate of the Azov people and there should not be any exchange. He stressed that questions regarding Medvedchuk should be discussed by those "who have the appropriate competence."

21:22 Recruitment for volunteer military service has begun in Poland. According to the Minister of Defense of the country, Mariusz Blaszczak, the strengthening of the combat capability of the Polish army is a response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

In Poland, they expect to attract 15,000 volunteers. Volunteer service in Poland was introduced by amendments to the law on the defense of the Fatherland. According to them, the armed forces of Poland should have 300,000 troops, of which 250,000 - in operational units, another 50,000 - in the territorial.

20:56 In the Donetsk region, the invaders launched an airstrike on the church in the village of Bogorodichnoye, in the basement of which about a hundred church ministers and children lived and hid, the National Police reports. The skete of the Svyatogorsk Lavra was destroyed, but the people were not injured. They were taken to a safer place.

20:31 In Ukraine, on the night of May 21, the nephew of the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Adam Khamkhoev, who was the commander of the airborne assault company, was destroyed, The Magas Times reports with reference to the "officer corps" of Ingushetia. Another local publication Fortanga writes, citing a source, that the victim was the nephew of the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the former head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

20:02 Ukraine receives protocols from the United States and Israel to combat the psychological consequences of the war, Olena Zelenska said: "We have the support of the WHO, we receive the expertise of countries that have worked with military trauma, for example, the protocols of the United States, Israel." According to the first lady, an audit of the system for providing psychological assistance is already beginning in Ukraine.

19:53 In the Lugansk region, the Ukrainian military destroyed the Russian self-propelled gun Pion, which destroyed the Pavlograd bridge and fired at Severodonetsk. It was possible to destroy it thanks to the video of Russian propagandists, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Gaidai.

19:34 In the Donetsk direction, the enemy is trying to break through the line of defense of Ukrainian troops and reach the administrative border of the Luhansk region, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will report in the evening report . In particular, with the support of aviation and artillery, the enemy conducted assault operations in the areas of the settlements of Lipovo, Vasilievka, Maryinka and Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk region, but was not successful.

The Russians launched air and artillery strikes on civilian targets in Bakhmut and Vrubovka, as well as on Nikolsky in the Volnovakhsky district. The preparation of units of the occupying forces for the resumption of the offensive in the Slavic direction continues.

19:08 Erdogan held telephone conversations with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niiniste. The parties agreed to continue "close dialogue".

19:06 Deputy "head" of Mariupol Evgeny Kharmyshev announced the resumption of voluntary squads. Now the men of Mariupol will patrol the city together with the Russian military and the "People's Militia of the DPR". As adviser to the mayor of the city Petr Andryushchenko reports, the real goal of such "patrolling" is to strengthen the search activities: this time they are looking not only for activists, but, first of all, for public utilities, teachers and other specialists. Another goal is "soft" preparation for mobilization.

In addition, the "leadership" of the city disseminates information about the start of conscription into the army of the so-called "DNR" in September.

19:00 The Russian authorities intend to study the possibility of exchanging Medvedchuk for the defenders of Azovstal, Leonid Slutsky, a member of the negotiation process, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs and head of the LDPR faction, said: "We will study the possibility of exchanging Medvedchuk for the Azovites. Not we - the Liberal Democratic Party, but those people in Moscow, which have such powers".

18:51 Chaotic burials and summer rains can lead to an epidemic catastrophe in Mariupol, Mayor Vadim Boychenko said on television: "In addition to the humanitarian catastrophe created by the occupiers and collaborators, the city is on the verge of an outbreak of infectious diseases. One hundred thousand people continue to live without water. Sewerage does not work.There are chaotic burials all over the city.During the summer rains typical for Mariupol, all this will fall into the rivers, seas and sources from where people take water.Therefore, we need green corridors for the evacuation of Mariupol residents.Together with international partners, we must do everything to save people."

18:33 In the Luhansk region, the invaders destroyed the bridge between Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. This happened for the second time - the first was in July 2014 during the liberation of Lisichansk - then the Russians blew up the span of the bridge during the retreat. Since then, communication between the two cities has been difficult. The bridge was restored in 2016.

18:19 Zelensky does not rule out a military way of unblocking the Black Sea ports of Ukraine: "22 million tons of grain is blocked today, and the Russians are still constantly stealing and exporting it somewhere... We need to unblock these ways, because there will be a crisis in the world. You can unblock it in different ways ways. One of the ways is military. Therefore, we turn to partners with such requests regarding the appropriate weapons."

18:17 Kuleba said that only Kiev will decide when hostilities end: "Ukraine and only Ukraine will determine when and how the war will end. We will exercise our right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter after a brutal armed attack. President Zelensky said everything clearly. We do not need foreign land, but we will not give up ours."

18:15 The US Department of Defense reports that "M777 155-mm towed howitzers have been loaded for transportation to Ukraine by US Air Force pilots as part of US security assistance."

18:13 The EU and partner countries issued a statement to limit or suspend the participation of Russia and Belarus in the work of the World Customs Organization, the State Customs Service of Ukraine reports. In a statement, the EU and partner countries expressed support for Ukraine and condemned the Russian invasion with the participation of Belarus.

18:09 In the Zolochiv district of Kharkiv, the bodies of Russian servicemen were found and exhumed from unmarked graves. According to Sergey Bolvinov, head of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kharkiv region, local residents reported the appearance of graves on different streets without any markings, except for homemade crosses.

"We had to dig these graves to identify individuals and transfer them in accordance with international procedures. In total, six corpses were found in the uniform of the RF Armed Forces, one of them is Lieutenant Colonel V.S. Gerasimov," Bolvinov said.

17:44 Ukraine will launch a large-scale counteroffensive in a month and a half to two months, Ruslan Leviev, head of the Conflict Intelligence Team, said in an interview with Meduza: "There are resources for this. Martial law has been introduced in Ukraine. They already have new equipment. In a month and a half to two months "we will see a turn of the situation not in Russia's favor. Most likely, they will start from the Donbass and will try to cut off the supply lines of the Russian army."

17:37 Ukraine should receive the status of an EU candidate and considers proposals for alternative solutions incorrect, Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa: "We do not need any opportunities or access to certain finances. This is important for the economy Ukraine, but we do not need it as an alternative to the EU candidacy. We do not need these compromises, because these will not be compromises with Ukraine. This will be another compromise between Europe and the Russian Federation. I am absolutely sure that this is the pressure and influence of Russian officials, bureaucrats and lobbyists."

17:34 Portugal will provide Ukraine with up to 250 million euros of financial support - the corresponding memorandum was signed by Prime Minister Denys Shmygal with his Portuguese counterpart António Costa. The first tranche of up to 100 million euros is due this year.

17:29 At the filtration checkpoints and checkpoints around Mariupol towards Zaporozhye, the occupiers are being rotated: collaborators and representatives of the so-called "People's Militia of the DPR" are being exchanged for representatives of the National Guard and Kadyrovtsy. In addition, the occupiers are installing additional control points on dirt roads, which could bypass the filtration control, said Petr Andryushchenko, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol.

According to him, from today any evacuation from the city becomes impossible until the opening of the corridors agreed by the Ukrainian authorities. "Everyone who, trusting in the propaganda and informational stuffing of the invaders, was going to temporarily return to Mariupol to take out personal belongings, do not do this. Now you must remember: this is a one-way road," Andryushchenko wrote.

17:13 In Nikolaev, the monument to Pushkin, which was installed in the square at the intersection of Pushkinskaya and Naberezhnaya streets, disappeared from the pedestal. According to eyewitnesses, the monument was dismantled on Saturday, May 21. Dismantling was carried out using a truck crane. The bronze figure of the poet was removed from the granite pedestal and taken away in an unknown direction.

16:52 Prominent architect Norman Foster has already begun work on the creation of a master plan for the restoration of Kharkiv, Mayor Igor Terekhov said in an interview with ZN.UA: "I am very grateful to Norman Foster, with whom we began the creation of a new master plan for Kharkiv today. This will be a unique project, a lot of new and interesting things - interchanges, highways, parks, new neighborhoods and road logistics."

16:39 A Russian helicopter fired at the territory between Kharkiv and Sumy regions, the State Border Service reports. The border guards confirmed that in the afternoon the Sumy region was fired from the territory of Russia from Gradov - in total they counted about 15 shots. At the same time, in the direction of the villages of Gremyach, Nikolaevka and Kucherovka, the Russians fired mortars.

16:26 Zelensky, during a meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, said that he expects a decision to transfer American long-range multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine from a meeting of defense ministers of more than 40 countries: "Such meetings are already a positive result ... We expect a positive on the supply of MLRS "I have no secrets. We appeal to all countries about MLRS systems, thanks to which Ukraine will be able to take the initiative and liberate its territory."

16:04 Zelensky thanked Biden: "I thank the US President for signing the law on additional support for Ukraine. The leadership of the United States, President Biden and the American people in supporting Ukraine in the fight against the Russian aggressor is important. We expect new powerful defensive assistance. Today it is needed more than ever."

15:41 Poland has handed over to Ukraine a huge stock of spare parts and weapons for the MiG-29, Onet reports. This will allow the Ukrainian Air Force to restore the combat capability of aircraft on an ongoing basis.

15:40 Traffic on the Warsaw highway M-07 along the Kiev-Kovel route has been fully restored, said Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov. According to him, due to damage by the Russians to the main bridge across the Irsha River, near the village of Ukrainka, traffic for vehicles was temporarily closed. Now there is a temporary crossing.

15:37 Ukraine has established two alternative routes for food exports while ports are blocked, Kuleba said: "Russia is putting millions of people at risk of starvation by blocking our ports. Ukraine, together with partners, has established two alternative land routes to deliver food exports and save Africa and other regions from hunger".

15:29 The Russians will not have time to hold a referendum in Melitopol, Mayor Ivan Fedorov believes. He said that in Melitopol, the invaders and collaborators had already appointed the second sacred date after May 9 - the 220th anniversary of the founding of the Taurida province. In particular, they have already sealed the city with thematic posters. This date is celebrated in the autumn, and it is for this date, most likely, that the Russians are preparing a "referendum" and the announcement of annexation.

In addition, the city has already begun to change license plates on cars with a new coat of arms, the flag of the Taurida province and the letters TVR. "It all looks ridiculous. On Ukrainian license plates they stick the flag of Ukraine and draw birds with felt-tip pens. They really cannot organize a referendum. Except maybe a picture. They can bring grandmothers from Rostov or Chechnya for it and make a propaganda movie. That's all they can do. But they will not have time to hold a referendum," Fyodorov is convinced.

15:14 The entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO means "the continuation of the war in Ukraine", says Erdogan's ally, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahceli: "The entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO means the continuation of the war in Ukraine. In our opinion, this intention is a crime against humanity."

15:12 The Russian project Important Stories has identified one of the suspects in the executions of civilians in Bucha. The footage was published by The New York Times.

15:08 The Russian Foreign Ministry imposed "sanctions" against citizens of the United States and Canada, banning almost a thousand Americans and almost 30 Canadians from entering Russia. In particular, Biden and his son, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, Trudeau's wife and other officials and top managers will not be able to enter Russia.

15:02 Yermak said on the occasion of Europe Day that Ukraine sees no alternatives to EU membership: "Integration into the European Union for Ukraine is not only a way to modernize and reform the state and increase GDP, but also one of the factors of assurance of our security."

15:00 The official hryvnia exchange rate against the dollar remains fixed at UAH 29.25/USD. Fixing the exchange rate makes it possible to contain inflationary processes (due to cheaper critical imports) and keep inflationary expectations under control, the NBU explained. At the same time, from May 21, the regulator lifted restrictions on the establishment of the cash exchange rate and for card payments abroad.

14:58 In the near future, they plan to hold a "referendum" in the Donbas, as a result of which they intend to join the region to Russia. Such plans were voiced by a member of the negotiating delegation of the Russian Federation Leonid Slutsky at a meeting with the leader of the "DPR" Denis Pushilin, Russian media write.

"I am sure that in the coming months there will be significant events here. The population of the "DPR" and "LPR" will express their position, as they did earlier in Crimea and Sevastopol, as they themselves consider how to live on. This is their own position, not Kyiv's" - said Slutsky.

14:56 Last day at Azovstal. Video edited by BABYLON'13 based on materials provided by the Mariupol garrison:

14:46 The Mariupol City Council asks not to distribute video materials filmed by Russian propagandists with Ukrainian defenders who left the territory of Azovstal: "Let's respect our heroes and not play along with the occupiers by distributing enemy materials."

14:37 Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa arrived in Ukraine at the invitation of Shmyhal and visited Irpin: "I will never forget my visit to Irpin. The levels of destruction and violence are absolutely devastating... What strikes me most is the violence against civilians. We condemn Russia's barbaric invasion. Portugal support Ukraine.

14:32 Ukraine is tightening the regime on the southern border with Transnistria. According to the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky border detachment, from May 23, it is prohibited to enter a certain area along the state border, as well as rest, grazing, accumulation and long stops of vehicles, the use of drones, etc. It is also prohibited to drive on a section of the Odessa-Reni highway in the Palanka area. An exception is made for the military, workers in industry and agriculture.

13:59 In the Chernihiv region today, around noon, the enemy fired from a mortar at the border areas in the direction of Gremyach and Nikolaevka. There are no losses, OK Pivnich reported.

13:57 This morning, the Britta K civilian ship flying the flag of the Republic of Togo, making a transit passage through Ukrainian territorial waters near Zmeiny Island, received a signal from the Russians demanding to leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation, otherwise weapons will be used against it, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.

13:52 The Russians destroyed to the ground a music school in Svyatogorsk, Donetsk region, which the government of Japan helped Ukraine to repair in 2016, said the head of the UVA Pavel Kirilenko.

13:48 Leonid Slutsky, a member of the Russian delegation at the talks with Ukraine, said that "humanitarian tasks for the exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead between Ukraine and Russia will be resolved in the near future."

13:46 Biden signed a bill on the allocation of assistance to Ukraine in the amount of about $ 40 billion.

13:18 Residents of the occupied territories are stepping up cooperation with the intelligence and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, reports the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. The population of Donbass is trying to sabotage the instructions of the invaders and avoid any cooperation with the "authorities", and the men flatly refuse to fight for Russia.

According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the occupying administrations received an urgent order from Moscow to carry out urgent measures to "raise morale" in military units and among the local population. The Russian propagandists brought to Donetsk and Lugansk are already making propaganda videos and films about successes and victories, organizing concerts and creating museums of military glory.

Recently, an exhibition called Nazism in Ukraine opened in the so-called "Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DPR" . The occupiers are mediocrely trying to pass off World War II items as personal belongings of Ukrainian defenders. Information about the organizers of the exhibition on their own initiative was transferred to the Ukrainian authorities at once by several dozen patriotic residents of Donetsk.

12:49 Reznikov will be a key participant in the second discussion in the Ramstein format - a group of about 40 countries supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia, the Pentagon said: "Of course, they will want to hear from Reznikov what opportunities the Ukrainians continue to need. And then there will be a discussion among members of the contact group on how they can better meet these needs."

12:43 Russia will not be among the guarantors of Ukraine's security, Zelensky said: "Today we are considering a circle of security guarantors from partner states that we trust." As for Russia, according to him, a separate agreement should be concluded with it.

Negotiations with the Russian Federation are still possible, since the condition for saving the lives of the defenders of Mariupol was met, the President noted: “Today we see that they gave an opportunity, found a form so that these people were alive, and they took them out. There will be an exchange further. From the results of these processes also depends on a lot."

12:41 The Ukrainian authorities saw Russia's preparations for aggression last fall, Zelensky said: "The pressure was before a large-scale invasion. We understood that preparations were underway. I would start talking about the offensive from September-October. Hybrid shelling began in the fall, you remember about problems with fuel, energy, cyberattacks... But no one fully understood the volume, impudence that we saw. It's one thing when you realize that tanks will most likely come from Belarus. "Russia will attack you through Belarus. It's another matter when missiles are specifically flying from Belarus. The difference is big - you are at war with those who are on the territory of Belarus, or you are at war with two countries."

Speaking about warnings from Western intelligence agencies, Zelensky noted that "no one knew the details completely. We had our own training, the intelligence agencies of our partners had their own training. No one had more details than we knew."

12:32 A missile strike was inflicted on the territory of the Rivne region, a military infrastructure facility was hit, said the head of the OVA Vitaliy Koval. The number of victims and the scale of destruction are being specified.

12:28 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe railway station of the Zhytomyr region, high-precision Caliber missiles allegedly destroyed "a large batch of weapons and equipment delivered to Ukraine from the USA and Europe." And at the Odessa port plant, according to Moscow, high-precision air-launched missiles of the VKS destroyed fuel storage facilities.

12:24 The SBU announced that it had received "indisputable evidence" of Russia's involvement in the shelling of the railway station in Kramatorsk on April 8, as a result of which 61 people died and 121 were injured.

Thus, thanks to a series of studies of the missile's flight path and analysis of other aspects, the SBU established that the strike was carried out from the territory of the Donetsk region controlled by Russia. Experts confirmed that a Tochka-U missile was used for the shelling. According to the SBU, several complexes with Tochka-U are located in the uncontrolled territories of Donbass and have been used by the enemy for eight years.

12:21 Arakhamia said in social networks that the information of the Western media about the transfer of the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine "is not yet confirmed."

12:18 Zelensky said that he would consider it a victory if Ukraine manages to return to the demarcation line on February 24. According to him, it will be very difficult to return all the territories of Ukraine by military means and will cost a huge number of Ukrainian lives. After reaching the line on February 24, the second stage should begin - through negotiations, return the remaining territory.

12:14 Moldova must be armed with NATO standards in order to resist possible Russian aggression, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in an interview with The Telegraph. She said that the allies are negotiating to help smaller countries defend themselves because, despite very limited successes in Ukraine, Putin still dreams of creating a "great Russia", which, in particular, involves the occupation of Moldova.

12:04 The war in Ukraine is entering its final phase, Podolyak said on the air of the telethon: "The question is how long it will take. It can drag on, because the Russians, with all the loud statements, have concentrated the rest of their resources and want to go into the so-called positional war ".

The adviser to the head of the Presidential Office emphasized that Ukraine needs to unblock all regions, including Donetsk and Luhansk: "This phase of the war, which will be called the counteroffensive phase, will be tough enough for us, and, unfortunately, we will lose our people ... But we will have to live this bloody phase of the liberation of their territories in any case."

12:02 Ukrainian air defense shot down a missile near Nemirov, Vinnytsia region, the OVA reported.

11:55 "We have already broken the back of the world's second army. We did it. They will not get back on their feet for the next few years," Zelensky said. “The Ukrainian rebuff inflicted unbearable damage on the Russian army, we broke them both physically and morally.”

The President again emphasized that in order for negotiations with Russia to become possible, it "must go to the borders on February 24." "I hope that country is smart enough to do that," he added.

11:52 Zelensky said that no country in Europe had ever faced such a volume of forces that Russia threw against Ukraine: "We are 28 times smaller, it was necessary to concentrate forces. All the amount of equipment and resources that we had was spread all over the country."

Nevertheless, the president believes that Ukraine was prepared for war: "All analysts said that they would come to Kyiv in 2-3 days, analyzing their volumes. So, we were prepared."

11:49 Zelensky and his wife Elena gave a long interview to Ukrainian journalists:

11:44 Zelensky said that intelligence is leading the process of withdrawing the Ukrainian military from Azovstal - "removal, withdrawal and preparation for dialogue, exchange, etc." The President assured that the defenders should be exchanged: "Then everything depends on what obligations the UN, the Red Cross, Russia assumed. <...> We are waiting for this or that exchange format. We will take them home."

11:42 Zelensky said that 700,000 soldiers are defending Ukraine today: "You see the result of the work of 700,000 warring people. 700,000 are at the time of the war."

11:38 Zelensky, in an interview with Ukrainian journalists, said that the war between Russia and Ukraine would be completed through diplomacy, but the format of peace negotiations would be hybrid. According to the president, he used to think that it was possible to end the war with the Russian Federation through "pure dialogue" and that this dialogue had "an appropriate timeframe"; it would be possible to find "answers to many questions and many solutions" in it.

"And now it's like a car, not a gasoline or electric car - a hybrid. That's why the war is so complicated, and the victory will be very difficult, it will be bloody, it will definitely be in battle, but the ending will definitely be in diplomacy. I'm sure of this "Zelensky said.

At the same time, he added that some issues between Ukraine and Russia could not be resolved anywhere except at the negotiating table: "Because we want to return everything, and the Russian Federation wants not to give everything away, that is, not to give anything away."

11:17 In the Kharkiv region over the past day, Russians from multiple launch rocket systems fired at Alekseyevka, Saltovka; the missile attack actually destroyed the Palace of Culture in Lozova. A 66-year-old woman died in Dergachi, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA, said.

Also in the region there were shelling in Dergachi, Malaya Danilovka, Chuguevsky district, Tsirkuny. At night, the invaders fired on the Zolochiv community, residential buildings were on fire. In just one day, as a result of Russian aggression in the region, 20 people were injured.

11:06 The General Staff announced the approximate combat losses of the enemy on the morning of May 21. The enemy suffered the greatest losses over the past day in the Bakhmut direction.

  • personnel - about 28,850 (+150) people liquidated,

  • tanks - 1278 (+15),

  • armored combat vehicles - 3116 (+26),

  • artillery systems - 596 (+0),

  • MLRS - 201 (+1),

  • air defense systems - 93 (+0),

  • aircraft - 204 (+0),

  • helicopters - 169 (+1),

  • UAV operational-tactical level - 462 (+2),

  • cruise missiles - 104 (+1),

  • ships/boats - 13 (+0),

  • automotive equipment and tankers - 2178 (+16),

  • special equipment - 43 (+0).

10:48 The Lithuanian authorities announced that from May 22, the country will stop purchasing electricity from Russia. Thus, from Sunday there will be no Russian gas, no oil, no electricity in the country.

10:44 A half-naked activist burst onto the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival with the inscription Stop raping us (Stop raping us) on her body and a Ukrainian flag on her chest in protest against rape by the Russian military in Ukraine. The French feminist collective SCUM said that "the inaction of Europe and the rest of the world in the face of the violence of pimps and Russian soldiers is a form of complicity."

10:36 Podolyak urged not to believe the "horror stories" from the "experts": "If you listen to the experts, then Ukraine should have been frozen three times in winter, left without electricity in March, and the Russian flag would have fluttered over half of the country. Remember this when you hear another a horror story that the country will not survive next winter, and people will be left on the street without work.If every time someone says "this is impossible", we gave up, we would no longer have a country.If you hear "Ukraine will have to sacrifice territories because Russia is strong,” says a loser who has already lost in his soul. We have no other country, we know what we are fighting for. That is why we will win.”

10:17 The head of the Sumy OVA Dmitry Zhivitsky said that this morning the Russian military opened fire from artillery from their territory on the Esman community of the Shostka district. There are no losses.

09:56 Zelensky knew about Russia's intention to attack Ukraine, said Polish President Andrzej Duda in an interview with Polska Times: "I was in Kiev before the attack, we left Ukraine just a few hours before it. In parting, Vladimir Zelensky told me that he was sure: Ukraine attack in the next few hours. It was a very touching meeting and a very touching moment for me... At the end, Zelensky said: Andrzej, maybe this is the last time we see each other."

09:43 This morning, the Russian military again fired at the border areas of the Sumy region from the territory of the Russian Federation, the OK Pivnich reported. The observers recorded six shots fired in the direction of the Kucherovka settlement. There were no fatalities or losses among the equipment.

09:19 British intelligence reports that in the Russian-Ukrainian war, unmanned aerial vehicles played a key role for both sides, although they suffered high losses. UAVs proved vulnerable to both shooting down and electronic interference.

Russia has tried to implement the "reconnaissance strike" concept it has perfected in Syria. It involves the use of reconnaissance UAVs to determine targets, which are then hit by aircraft or artillery. At the same time, the Russian Federation is likely to experience a shortage of suitable reconnaissance UAVs for this task, which is exacerbated by the restrictions on its domestic production capacity as a result of sanctions.

Russian aircraft continue to largely avoid flying over Ukrainian territory, likely due to the threat from Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile systems. If the Russian Federation continues to lose drones at the current rate, the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities of the Russian forces will further deteriorate, which will negatively affect operational efficiency.

09:02 Podolyak criticized The New York Times for an editorial calling on Ukraine to agree to territorial concessions in order to stop the war. An adviser to the head of the OP called such a statement "very strange." According to him, "it's very cool when you sit somewhere in a warm office, drink coffee and think about global world problems."

“But doesn’t this person who writes “let’s give up something” want to come here and talk to families in which their loved ones were killed or raped? Doesn’t want to talk to them? NYT, what’s the problem? in Bucha, talk to them," Podolyak said on the air of the telethon. According to him, if some territories are “conceded” to the Russian Federation, the Russians will want to take others in a few years.

08:39 In the Donetsk region, as a result of Russian shelling over the past day, three people were killed, said the head of the OVA Pavel Kirilenko. According to him, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, it is known about 400 civilian deaths in the region, not counting the victims in Mariupol and Volnovakha, the number of which is impossible to know.

08:37 The governments of Germany and Italy have allowed their gas importers to pay for it on Russian terms. According to Reuters, this position of Berlin and Rome is agreed with the European Union so that EU sanctions against Russia are not violated.

08:29 The former commander of the US Ground Forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges is convinced that at the end of the summer the forces of the Russian army will weaken. It is during this period that Ukraine will be able to launch a full-fledged counteroffensive and push the enemy out at least to the positions of February 23, he said in an interview with Voice of America.

08:14 In the Lugansk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, six people were killed, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. According to him, the invaders fired at the school, in the basement of which, since the beginning of the war, residents of the new districts of Severodonetsk have been hiding. Two people died on the spot, three more were hospitalized. In the evening, two more people died near their home in Severodonetsk, two more died in Lisichansk and Privolye. About 50 houses were destroyed during the day.

07:54 Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petr Andryushchenko, showed how the deportation is going on. According to him, the invaders deliver buses to the Metro area and announce the evacuation. Already at landing, they report that the bus is taking them to the Bezymennoe of the Novoazovsky district and then to Russia. The Russian military and official "volunteers" block any attempts to leave the place and refuse to evacuate.

07:48 Russian troops plan to resume offensive operations in the Donbass with the crossing of the Seversky Donets River, according to the morning summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine . Also, the Russian troops are trying to resume offensive operations in the Yampol-Seversk direction and in the Slavyansk direction.

07:43 According to the American Institute for the Study of War, Russia is preparing for a counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a protracted war in the south. Russian troops concentrated on strengthening the existing defensive lines and developing defensive lines on the southern axis. Over the past 24 hours on May 20, they were unable to achieve any progress. The purpose of the invaders in this direction is to protect the occupied Kherson from counterattacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

07:38 Canada will provide Ukraine with an additional loan in the amount of 250 million Canadian dollars (more than 195 million US dollars).

07:36 The Russian occupiers have thrown all their strength to encircle the territory of the Luhansk region or enter the cities as if they were in ashes. Shoigu has already stated that the region will be seized in the near future, which means that a lot of equipment will be thrown here, said the head of the Luhansk OVA, Sergei Gaidan. He said that the occupiers were destroying Severodonetsk, like Mariupol, now there are battles in the vicinity of the city. Popasnaya has already been turned into ashes.

04:57 US Senator Mitch McConnell believes that a new package of US assistance to Ukraine may affect the opening of the port in Odessa: "I think this package of weapons is designed in such a way as to give them what they need now, not only to win in ground war, but also, hopefully, to have some influence on reopening the port of Odessa, because the lack of Ukrainian food will be reflected throughout the Middle East and Africa.

03:21 Biden appointed Pentagon spokesman John Kirby as coordinator of the US National Security Council for strategic communications.

01:23 In the three months of the war against Ukraine, Russia has not achieved any significant success. But sooner or later the war will end with a ceasefire or a truce. Read more in Five Scenarios for the End of the War by The Wall Street Journal .

00:05 The heroic defense of Mariupol lasted 86 days. The top military leadership of Ukraine issued an order to preserve the life and health of the defenders of the garrison and stop the defense of the city. All Ukrainian soldiers left Azovstal. About what awaits the military and the city - in the material The end of the battle for Mariupol.

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Six Ukrainian soldiers die trying to blow up warehouses at Azovstal
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[RIA Novosti] Six Ukrainian soldiers died on the territory of Azovstal while trying to blow up ammunition depots after most of them left the plant and laid down their arms, DPR head Denis Pushilin said.

"After the main part left, someone gave the command to blow up the ammunition depots. But it was done hastily, the command was given very crookedly. As a result, six people died immediately, four more were seriously injured. What is it for? It's not clear at all," he said on the air of Solovyov Live.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported on May 20 that the territory of Azovstal had been completely liberated, "the underground facilities of the enterprise, in which the militants were hiding, came under the full control of the Russian Armed Forces."

In total, according to the RF Ministry of Defense, since May 16, 2,439 Nazis of the Azov Regiment laid down their arms and surrendered (against its fighters in Russia criminal cases were initiated) and the Ukrainian military, who were blocked on the territory of the plant for about a month.

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From the Russian Perspective: Operation on Denazification of Ukraine: operational summary May 21st (updated)
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFrontInfo] 18:50 The RF Armed Forces the day before struck a non-working boiler house in Kharkiv Shishkovka. The room was used as a hangar for military equipment. But there is no manpower of the Armed Forces of Ukraine inside: Ukrainian servicemen occupied the buildings of the nearby building of the Institute of Endocrinology.

18:44 Part of the residents of the villages of the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region affected by shelling from Ukraine moved to temporary accommodation centers - the governor of the Starovoit region.

18:27 The Russian Foreign Ministry has declared 34 French and 24 Italian diplomats persona non grata. Earlier, the French expelled 41 employees of Russian diplomats, and the Italians - 30. The leaders of France and Germany expressed their extreme indignation.

17:42 If Sweden and Finland do not clearly demonstrate that they are in solidarity with Turkey, then Ankara will not support their entry into NATO - Erdogan.

17:20 Kyiv continues the war on monuments to Pushkin. Today the sculpture of the great Russian poet was removed in Nikolaev. Moreover, the dismantling was carried out covertly, at night. Not so long ago, local militants from the terrorist defense asked for the demolition of all "Russian" monuments. The war with Pushkin in Ukraine has been going on since the end of April. The great Russian poet has already been removed from Chernigov, Ternopil and Mukachevo.

16:39 A Mera supermarket has opened in Akimovka, Melitopol district. Products on the store shelves are not only Crimean, but also local. In addition, the supermarket will sell products at cost price for kindergartens in Akimovka. Prices are presented in ruble and hryvnia equivalent.

16:38 In Kherson and the region, Radio Crimea is now broadcasting at a frequency of 107.8 FM.

15:55 Poland transferred to Ukraine almost its entire reserve of spare parts and weapons for MiG-29 aircraft - the Onet portal.

15:15 Journalist from the Netherlands Sonia Vantende was convinced of the efficiency of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, the destruction of which was reported by the Western media.

"I read a lot about this hydroelectric power station and many Western media wrote that it was destroyed. That the Russian army completely destroyed it. But now we are here and see that everything works. Crimea now has water and electricity. And I can't say anything except that Western propaganda just lied to us."

15:10 Registry offices have opened in Mangush and Volodarsky. Now the registry office departments are organizing work on receiving and servicing the population that lives in the settlements. In addition, on a regular basis, consultations are provided to the population on the current legislation in the field of state registration of acts of civil status, as well as state registration of birth and death.

13:13 Briefing by the Russian Ministry of Defense 05/21/2022 The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue a special military operation in Ukraine.

High-precision long-range sea-based missiles "Caliber" in the area of ​​the railway station Malin, Zhytomyr region, destroyed a large batch of weapons and military equipment delivered from the United States and European countries for the grouping of Ukrainian troops in the Donbass.

In the Odessa region, at the Odessa Port Plant, high-precision air-launched missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed storage facilities with fuel intended for the armored vehicles of Ukrainian nationalists.

In addition, three command posts were hit by high-precision air-launched missiles, including the command post of the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Bakhmut, 36 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as eight ammunition depots in the settlements of Galitsinovo, Mykolaiv region, Nyrkovo Luhansk People's Republic, Krasny Liman and Ocheretino Donetsk People's Republic.

Operational-tactical and army aviation hit four command posts, 47 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and also destroyed an ammunition depot in the Drobyshevo area.

In total, as a result of air strikes, more than 270 nationalists were destroyed, 52 units of military equipment were disabled.

Also, fighter aircraft shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft during an air battle near the village of Belitskoye of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Russian air defense systems shot down another Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force near Novoaleksandrovka, Kherson region. Also, 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down in the air in the areas of the settlements of Slavnoe, Krutaya Balka, Aleksandrovka, Krasnogorovka, Petropavlovka, Pervomaisk of the Donetsk People's Republic, Popasnaya of the Lugansk People's Republic, Novaya Kakhovka, Aleksandrovka of the Kherson region, Chervony Yar, Small Passages, Kunye and Brazhkovka Kharkov region.

In addition, eight Ukrainian rockets of the Smerch multiple launch rocket system were shot down in the areas of the settlements of Malaya Kamyshevakha, Kamenka, Brazhkovka in the Kharkiv region and Chernobaevka in the Kherson region.

Missile forces and artillery hit 77 command posts, 602 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including a training camp for special operations forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with personnel near Lake Sasik in the Odessa region, 43 artillery and mortar units in firing positions, two batteries MLRS "Grad", 10 ammunition depots and a launcher of the Buk-M1 air defense system in the area of ​​Mayaki, Kharkiv region.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed: 174 aircraft, 125 helicopters, 966 unmanned aerial vehicles, 315 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,182 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 402 multiple rocket launchers, 1,614 field artillery and mortar guns, as well as 3054 units of special military vehicles.

13:02 Humanitarian tasks for the exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead between Ukraine and Russia will be resolved in the near future - Slutsky.

13:01 Ukraine blocked 21 Turkish ships in the port of Odessa, Kyiv uses them as a human shield - Turkish media.

11:30 Caliber missiles in the Zhytomyr region destroyed a large batch of weapons and equipment from the US and Europe. It was supposed to receive a group of Ukrainian troops in the Donbass, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. In addition, storage facilities with fuel for nationalist armored vehicles were destroyed in the Odessa region.

11:16 An explosion is reported in Kyiv. In the meantime, an air alert has been declared throughout Ukraine.

09:38 A one-time payment of funds has begun in Vasilievka. In accordance with the decision of the government of the Russian Federation, a one-time payment of funds has been organized in Vasilievka, aimed at supporting the most socially vulnerable groups of the population - pensioners and public sector employees. Assistance is issued in the amount of 10 thousand rubles. To receive it, pensioners must have a certificate. Help is available at: Chekista, 1.

08:44 Internet from Crimea was installed in the Kherson region. This was announced by State Duma deputy Igor Kastyukevich, who oversees the Russian humanitarian mission in the region. The politician clarified that there are still interruptions with mobile communications in the Kherson region.

08:31 In the village. Mikhailovka, Melitopol district, a municipal pharmacy N 1 will open today. The pharmacy is located at: st. Svyatopokrovskaya, 1B (former ANC).

08:08 The RF Armed Forces continue to strike at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Zolochiv, Dergachi and Tsirkuny. The command post of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Lozova was hit.

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Perspective from the Breakaway Republics: Invasion of Ukraine: May 21st, 2022
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFrontInfo] 23:45 A total of 1659 explosive items were found and defused during the cleanup of the territory of the LPR.

21:27 Ilovaisk located in the deep rear, nevertheless, the enemy is trying to get there. Over the city today, air defense systems intercepted the Ukrainian Tochka-U missile. Its fragments fell on a residential building, as a result two women were injured.

I went to them today, family members have already sorted out the rubble that formed right in the kitchen: there, breaking through the roof and ceiling, a "blank" flew in, miraculously not killing anyone.

The family will be assisted in the reconstruction of the house. As well as to everyone else whose houses suffered from shelling by Ukrainian armed forces. We will restore everything.

20:49 Railway communication between the Republics of Donbass and the Russian Crimea through the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions will be resumed as soon as possible - speaker of the Crimean parliament Vladimir Konstantinov.

20:17 Regarding the destroyed bridge in Severodonetsk:

This narrows the ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to supply the group defending the city and transparently hints that the RF Armed Forces, in fact, do not mind if this group does not retreat to Lisichansk to more convenient positions, but welds separately in Severodonetsk, as it already happened with the Mariupol group.

18:30 Russian Grad multiple launch rocket systems near Severodonetsk. Rocket artillery strikes at the military infrastructure and artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

18:20 The Donbas Aid Train arrived in the DPR. The first humanitarian train in eight years delivered food, hygiene products, medicines, clothes, stationery, household chemicals, building materials and equipment, generators, fertilizers and more to the DPR.

A total of 60 regions of Russia took part in the action "Train of aid to Donbass" from the Popular Front and Russian Railways. Each sent one or more wagons filled with humanitarian cargo.

17:50 The first batch of new gas equipment has been delivered to Lugansk as part of humanitarian aid from Russia. The cabinet control points transferred to the republic are equipped with a protection system that allows it to work more efficiently when the gas pressure changes, said Dmitry Zvyagintsev, master of the emergency dispatch service of the Lugansk section of Luganskgaz.

17:40 The government of the Luhansk People's Republic by its decree set the exchange rate of the ruble against the hryvnia when determining prices for goods and services - the government of the LPR.

17:25 How Azov surrendered - the road to captivity. ExclusiveR.T. Along the way, phones, laptops were beaten, documents and any information about themselves were destroyed. True, they forgot about flash drives in phones, and we picked them up. Who needs to be useful.

17:22 According to reports, the Cossack regiment of the NM LPR entered the village of Viktorovka. Now in the village, which is located north of Popasna, fighting is underway.

17:10 Flag of the USSR again over Azovstal.

17:00 Shelling from the side of the VFU was recorded in the following directions:

n.p. Novgorodskoye - n.p. Panteleymonovka: eight 122mm rounds were fired.

n.p. Novgorodskoye - n.p. Panteleymonovka: eight 122mm rounds were fired.

16:35 In Mariupol, 35 social infrastructure facilities and 25 apartment buildings have already been connected to the power supply. Reported by the Ministry of Coal and Energy of the DPR.

"Numerous damage to the city’s energy facilities is being eliminated both by local power engineers who are actively involved in the work, and by teams coming to their aid from different parts of the republic," the report says.

16:30 "Representatives of Azov cannot be exchanged. We see what our guys are returning from captivity. We see thousands, if not millions of facts testifying to crimes. Moreover, these are cynical, inhumane crimes."

This opinion was expressed by Elena Shishkina, deputy of the People's Council of the DPR.

The Nazis must be punished, she is sure.

15:56 VFU shelled the Gorlovka village of Panteleymonovka. As a result of the aggression of Ukrainian nationalists, a fire was recorded in one of the housing constructions. Fortunately, no casualties. Residents of these settlements are kindly requested to limit movement along the streets and stay close to shelters!

15:50 "In the near future, Donbass are waiting for "significant events", the population of the DPR and LPR will express their position on how to live on," said Slutsky, head of the LDPR faction in the State Duma.

15:46 New frames Ministry of Defense - withdrawal of the national battalion "Azov" from "Azovstal". In the video, you can see the tattoos of militants with Nazi symbols, as well as quotes and portraits of Hitler. In total, 2,439 people surrendered.

15:35 According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR, more than 50 people died in a boarding house in the village of Kremennaya in the LPR in a fire that broke out in March due to shooting from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

15:25 British bazooka! NLAW discovered soldiers of the 5th brigade of the People's Militia of the DPR. We found him at the abandoned positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the vicinity of Volnovakha. Now the "exhibit" is being shown near one of the checkpoints.

15:16 From the side of the armed formations of Ukraine shelling from the direction of N of the item is recorded. Zolote-4 by settlement Pervomaisk with the use of 120mm mortars (six mines) - Representation of the Luhansk People's Republic in the JCCC.

14:49 VFU fired at the street. Zhukov in the Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk. No damage or casualties.

14:36 ​​The State Bank of the Lugansk People's Republic has opened more than 20 new branches in the liberated territories, follows from a statement by the government of the LPR.

14:22 AFU shelled a football field in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk

As a result of the shelling on the street. Kalinouski damaged football field.

12:33 An operation to clear the territory has begun at the Azovstal plant.

11:28 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Dzerzhinsk - n.p. Gorlovka (settlement of the mine named after Gagarin): five shells of 122mm caliber were fired.

11:10 Over the past day, from 08:00 on May 20 to 08:00 on May 21, 566 people, including 46 children, were evacuated from Mariupol to Bezymennoye, Novoazovsky district. Currently, they are at the point of assistance to the evacuated population, which is deployed by the forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the DPR. In total, for the period from March 5 to 08:00 on May 21, 34,934 people were evacuated to the Bezymennoye PPN.

11:07 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Krasnogorovka - Donetsk (Petrovsky district): five shells of 122mm caliber were fired.

09:20 First construction equipment from the Penza regionsentto the Republic to restore roads and bridges. Construction is about to unfold throughout the Donbass, and this will mean the beginning of a completely new life.

09:13 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Avdieivka - n.p. Yasinovataya: 10 missiles fired from the BM-21 Grad.

09:04 Evacuated residents of Kamyshevakhi in the LPR told how Ukrainian troops shelled their village with phosphorus shells and, during the retreat, mined wells with water.

09:00 Artillery of the NM DPR flips Ukrainian fighters. A self-propelled howitzer battery of the People's Militia of the DPR carried out an activity to list the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the vicinity of the Avdiivka settlement. The effectiveness of these measures was proven in Mariupol, Volnovakha and other settlements liberated from Ukrainian occupation.

08:40 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Novgorodskoye - n.p. Panteleymonovka: eight 122mm rounds were fired.

08:28 As it became known to Kommersant, thanks to the testimony of the military who surrendered at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation established that the previously detained mercenary from Britain, Sean Pinner, was a sniper. The marine himself claimed that he was preparing the Ukrainian military, as well as food for himself and his colleagues.

08:10 Up to a thousand servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine turned out to be in the fire bag in the vicinity of Liman. The RF Armed Forces leveled the front to the north of Svyatogorsk: Studenok and Yaremovka were taken, a crossing is being built from the direction of Sukha Kamenka. Fighting continues on the outskirts of Severodonetsk. The fiercest fighting took place to the north, west and southwest of Popasnaya.
A fire bag (В огневом мешке) is an area of enemy surrounded on three or more sides by friendly troops. It is not necessarily a cauldron or a pocket if the friendly troops plan to deliver concentric, concentrated fire.
08:00 Shelling from the side of the VFU was recorded in the following directions:

n.p. Avdievka - n.p. Yasinovataya: 10 missiles fired from the BM-21 Grad.

n.p. Avdievka - n.p. Yasinovataya: five missiles fired from the BM-21 Grad.

Posted by: badanov || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Investigators looking into Ukrainian shelling of two villages in the Kursk region
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] Investigators will record and investigate the facts of mortar shelling by Kyiv militants of the villages of Alekseevka and Dronovka in the Kursk region, located on the border with Ukraine. This was reported on May 20 by the press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

“The Investigative Committee of Russia will record and investigate the facts of mortar shelling by Ukrainian security forces on May 19, 2022 of the border villages of Alekseevka and Dronovka, Kursk Region,” the message said.

It is also specified that the investigators will establish all the circumstances of the named crimes of the armed Ukrainian formations and the persons involved in them in order to then bring the perpetrators to criminal liability.

As REGNUM reported earlier, it became known earlier that the Donetsk People's Republic is ready to exchange a citizen of Ukraine and Great Britain Aiden Aslin for any citizen or soldier of the DPR who is in captivity in Ukraine, but Kiev interferes with negotiations on the exchange of prisoners.

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Female Ukrainian sniper dies in Ukrainian mortar barrage
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] The servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not try to save their soldiers, to save the wounded is not in the rules of the Ukrainian military. One fact of such a betrayal was told by the assistant to the head of Chechnya for the power bloc, Apta Alaudinov.

According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine covered the place where the wounded sniper girl was with a flurry of mortar fire. She reported on the radio about her injury, asking to be evacuated. However, the answer of the comrades in arms was the fire from mortars on this square. This incident occurred, according to Alaudinov, in the area of ​​​​the industrial zone of the city of Rubizhnoye in the Donbass.

“When she said that she was wounded, unable to move and asking for help, they, realizing that they could not come to her aid, simply covered her with mortars and killed her. That is, their warfare technology is very peculiar, ”said Alaudinov, noting that if the wounded had surrendered, she would have remained alive.

Posted by: badanov || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe. And the same could be said of the Russians.also this claim is from the Chechens. So yeah pretty reliable info
Posted by: Percy Flotle3938 || 05/22/2022 6:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe. And the same could be said of the Russians.also this claim is from the Chechens. So yeah pretty reliable info

I got the idea that this information was gleaned from radio intercepts. Both sides' comms are hopelessly compromised.
Posted by: badanov || 05/22/2022 7:35 Comments || Top||

#3  ...noting that if the wounded had surrendered, she would have remained alive.
Let's parse this: female, wounded, surrenders alone ...and is a sniper. Historically soldiers tended to kill snipers and rape women they catch alone so pardon me if I am suspicious of the chivalrous tone.
Posted by: magpie || 05/22/2022 18:19 Comments || Top||

#4  noting that if the wounded had surrendered, she would have remained alive.
Let's parse this: female, wounded, surrenders alone ...and is a sniper. Historically soldiers tended to kill snipers and rape women they catch alone so pardon me if I am suspicious of the chivalrous tone.


Russian are painfully aware of the case of Col. Yuri Budanov
Posted by: badanov || 05/22/2022 18:22 Comments || Top||

#5  First-ever Arclight mortar strike on a hidden sniper for whom no precise location could be determined, or this is baloney. Making the sniper a woman was a nice touch. I am sure half of each sniper class is female in Ukraine. Yes, there were famous female Russian snipers in WWII. I also know that there is a female Ukrainian politician serving. I don't believe this story; it doesn't make military sense.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 20:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Aggression! A girl -- call her "Gretchen" --
In wounding, gives racist impression:
"Is Nazi," they said,
"Since she'd rather be dead
Than get taken alive by a Chechen!"
Posted by: Slomble Clolush4564 || 05/22/2022 23:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Or, The Bull's... Eye
Posted by: Slomble Clolush4564 || 05/22/2022 23:59 Comments || Top||


Suspicious fire breaks out at Russian aerospace institute that develops fighter jets and rockets in latest blaze to hit the country amid fears of Ukrainian saboteur campaign
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]
  • Fire broke out at a major Russian aerospace institute, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky, only 43 miles from Moscow

  • The fire began at a power substation supplying the institute

  • The institute has been crucial to the development of aircraft fighters and rockets

  • A retired CIA operative spoke of a 'Ukrainian sabotage campaign inside Russia'
TIMELINE OF SUSPICIOUS INCIDENTS INSIDE RUSSIA:
There’s also a cute map at the link of all the attacks.
March: In an unconfirmed date in March, five recruitment centers in Moscow were set on fire in the Voronezh, Sverdlovsk and Ivanovo regions

April 21: Russian officials said 17 people died in an Air-Space Defense Research Institute in Tver, 180km NW of Moscow, developing S-400 AD system and Kalibr Missile

April 21: Dmitrievsky chemical plant in the city of Kineshma explodes, 950km from Ukraine

April 22: As many as five Russian military enlistment offices have been set on fire in Ivanovo

April 22: The Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is filmed on fire in Russia

April 23: A hydroelectric complex collapses, Kuban

April 25: Bryansk Oil depot, a Rosneft production site, is set alight

April 25: Ussuriysk military air force base is reported as on fire

April 28: A fire is filmed within a construction site in Minsk, Belarus

April 28: Cars marked with the nationalist Russian symbol 'Z' were filed on fire in Moscow

April 29: Multiple buildings burn in Russia after a fire raged at a shopping centre in Ishim

April 30: A GRES-2 120-megawatt coal-fired power plant was reportedly sabotaged in Sakhalin

May 1: videos documented fuel-oil tanks burning in Mytishchi, a fuel depot only thirty minutes from the Kremlin

May 1: Photos suggested a railway bridge in Russia’s Kursk region was destroyed due to sabotage

May 2: Film showed a fire at a munitions factory facility in Perm, near the Ural Mountains

May 3: A fire at a four-floor pro-Kremlin publishing warehouse broke out in the Bogorodsk urban district of the Moscow region

May 4: Footage emerged of a large fire in the Dzerzhinsky industrial zone in the Nizhny Novgorod region

May 4: A Russian military enlistment office in Nizhnevartovsk was hit by multiple Molotov cocktails

May 8: A warehouse catches fire in Novoaltaysk

May 8: The Aviation College sets on fire in Perm

May 11: The Great Patriotic War memorial was filmed on fire in Peledui, Yakutsia

May 13: The military registration and enlistment office in Omsk was hit with Molotov cocktails

May 13: A large fire broke out in the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Sverdlovsk Region

May 13: A fire was recorded next to the Theatre for Young Spectators in Irkutsk Russia

May 15: A fire occurred in the production building of the Gloria Jeans company in the city of Shakhty

May 16: The DM Tower Business Centre in Moscow is filmed on fire

May 17: A blaze engulfed a chemical plant that makes plastic in Berdsk, central Russia

May 20: A transformer substation caught fire on the territory of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is not the Ukrainians provoking WWIII. There is zero chance that the third most corrupt government in the world has an intelligence bureau that could hold Op Sec for that laundry list of activities.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 18:02 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
4 PRC Generals executed over last weeks audio about war mobilization
[Twitter]


This was my post about mobilizing for War in China.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  more from Zeng:
1 lieutenant-general & 3 major generals have been executed, many others arrested after this top-secret file was leaked. This is the most severe political rebellion in #CCP's history. These brave ppl wanted to give the world an early warning.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/22/2022 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Appears they take Operational Security (OPSEC) quite seriously.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 3:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Any comment from General Milley?
Posted by: Airandee || 05/22/2022 4:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Stop and think of all the items we have produce for the USA by China that will halt, IF we have a missile exchange or whatever, with China.

Question: Will Biden and the DC Swamp sacrifice Taiwan to keep the stuff flowing for political election reasons?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/22/2022 6:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Ref #4: Strongly worded cables of outrage and admonishment. Little else.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 7:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Too many seem to assume that it was only a mobilization for external application. Plots within plots within plots?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/22/2022 7:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh, you mean an inflammatory account of something that promotes what they want us to believe? It's too perfect. And then they conjure up some generals who were executed, despite the fact that PLA's justice system takes a lot longer to operate than that. All the classic hallmarks of a psyop.
Posted by: Bertie Lumumba1577 || 05/22/2022 8:33 Comments || Top||

#8  Yes, everything is a "psyop". Nothing is real. You live in a universe of lies.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 05/22/2022 8:39 Comments || Top||

#9  President Biden threatens to put Three Gorges Dam in the target folder.... for aerial, low-level introduction of Walleye.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 9:11 Comments || Top||

#10  for aerial, low-level introduction of Walleye

Stocking walleyes promotes the sport of fishing and is good for the environment.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/22/2022 11:14 Comments || Top||

#11  So, they got executed for something similar to that phone call Milly Vanilly made to his "Chinese counterpart."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 11:53 Comments || Top||

#12  I watched the entire translated video, and it certainly sounded like a War Warning and pre-hostilities discussion/pep-talk/defense of regional targets. As an aside, I was struct by the groupthink mindset and hyper-enthusiastic displays of diligent obedience to higher authority. I was particularly struck by the encouragement to consider use of "resources" available in other countries, and "technologies" in "new domains" which suggested to me massive cyber warfare planning across the entire spectrum of opponents both in Taiwan, Korea, Japan and here. It may be PSYOPS, but it is also escalation at a time when we are terribly led by the Puppet Show and a deeply weakened current economy.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/22/2022 13:11 Comments || Top||

#13  all the items we have produce for the USA by China

Less than there used to be, thanks first to President Trump and second to the Covid shutdown — a process that will only accelerate as China continues lockdowns in pursuit of zero Covid infections. Any company not scrambling to find alternate suppliers or to open new factories elsewhere deserves what’s coming.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 13:57 Comments || Top||

#14  And, at the consumer end of the supply chain, people find substitutes or change their buying habits.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 13:58 Comments || Top||

#15  One friend suggested that the whole bit was a warning message to Biden not to lose the election...
Posted by: 3dc || 05/22/2022 14:37 Comments || Top||

#16  It may be PSYOPS, but it is also escalation at a time when we are terribly led by the Puppet Show and a deeply weakened current economy.

They might never find a better time.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/22/2022 16:26 Comments || Top||


Economy
Analyst Warns Of A Fuel Shortage Crisis In The U.S.
See also here.
[OilPrice]
  • Low fuel inventories could lead to a crisis this summer in the U.S.

  • Refinery outages could be disastrous during this period of supply tightness.

  • Sankey: we've never seen inventories this low, particularly in the northeast.
Very low inventories of oil products in the United States and a shortage of refining capacity have laid the foundations for an oil shortage crisis in the United States this summer, Paul Sankey, Lead Analyst at Sankey Research, told CNBC in an interview on Thursday.

There is a global shortage of refining capacity, and currently the energy world "is completely insane", he noted.

Some 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of refinery capacity in America has been shut permanently since the start of the pandemic.
Why permanently, and what would it take to reopen it?
In the U.S., operable refinery capacity was at just over 18 million bpd in 2021, the lowest since 2015, per EIA data. Rising demand since economies reopened and people returned to travel, combined with lower refining capacity and very tight distillate markets have drawn down U.S. product inventories to below seasonal averages and at multi-year lows, with record-low inventories reported on the East Coast.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/22/2022 08:48 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Wanted to add a personal observation to this.

We made a day trip yesterday to South Henry County Ga.
(1-20 and a lot of Ga. Hwy's used)

We saw roughly about a 1/3 of the Fueling stations out of diesel. Mostly Middle Eastern GA to Madison.

Ridiculously prices gas was in plentiful supply.
Still NO 85/15 to be found its all 90/10???

Strange, Gasoline was actually cheaper the closer we got Metro-Atlanta???

We saw a few major chain Truck Stops out of diesel, loaded with parked rigs? Waiting for fuel we guess???

Summary:
As we all know Semi's run on diesel and without it things like food and medical supplies don't get delivered.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/22/2022 9:16 Comments || Top||

#2  As we all know Semi's run on diesel and without it things like food and medical supplies don't get delivered

Biden: "Today, I have solved the fuel prices AND the supply chain issue. All deliveries will be by electric drones. Thank you"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 9:29 Comments || Top||

#3  My guess is we're only a few weeks away from fuel rationing.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 9:35 Comments || Top||

#4  ^ Only for Republicans trying to get to a polling place.
Posted by: Matt || 05/22/2022 9:46 Comments || Top||

#5  As we all know Semi's run on diesel and without it things like food and medical supplies don't get delivered.

Not all of us. Some, usually the product of our finest universities, have a finely-tuned sense of outrage and absolutely no understanding of how things are connected. We know that diesel is bad and that food and medical supplies come from stores.

All complex systems are networks. Plumbers and electricians get it, as do scientists and engineers. Interconnections are what they deal with every day. This blindness seems to be a disease of people who work with words. A federal bureaucrat decide that cars will henceforth get 50 mpg, with no thought of how some automotive engineer will wrestle the laws of physics to make that happen. California bans internal combustion vehicles with no thought as to where the electrons to run their EV replacements will come from.

tl;dr: Don't worry about a fuel shortage. It's nothing price controls and a bit of government regulation can't fix.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/22/2022 10:46 Comments || Top||

#6  ..have a finely-tuned sense of outrage and absolutely no understanding of how things are connected

It's all modern magic. Flip a switch and electricity comes on. Modern version of the cargo cult. Just got to find the wizard that knows the incantation.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/22/2022 11:03 Comments || Top||

#7  ^ Weiler's Law: Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself.
Posted by: Matt || 05/22/2022 11:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Not only that, but it all works because of people who didn't know they were rayciss nazi bigots who lacked the knowledge of 157 genders and proper pronoun usage.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 11:06 Comments || Top||

#9 

I guess my LMOE hord of Sta Bil stabilized ⛽ Gas will be put to use now soon.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/22/2022 12:09 Comments || Top||

#10  per Energy Info Agency, gasoline stocks are about 10%-15% below long term averages, diesel stocks are about 15%-20% below

interestingly, demand for both gas and diesel is below last year, although not by

USA has a number of places with a concentration of refineries, the gulf coast from near Houston to near Gulfport is one of the biggest and they have been shut down because of hurricanes on many occassions


















Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/22/2022 12:26 Comments || Top||

#11  It's going to get a lot worse. There's no refining capacity left. You can't just spin up a refinery in a couple months.
Posted by: Oil Derek || 05/22/2022 12:48 Comments || Top||

#12  What happened to the rest of the refinery capacity?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 13:22 Comments || Top||

#13  The US had about 300 refineries back in the early 80s. There are about 130 today. Some refineries have had upgrades so capacity is about the same as it was in the early 80s, that is, about 18M b/d. At any given time some refineries are off line because of maintenance.

Small refineries were closed because they could not afford the cost of upgrades to meet various regulations.

The US imports some refined products and exports others depending on the location and the season.

Most petroleum experts will tell you that the US needs more refineries but the implementation of this is difficult. A lot of regulations to meet. A lot of environmentalists will oppose. Warm mongers will oppose, etc.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/22/2022 14:17 Comments || Top||

#14  How much of America’s shortage results from oil now shipped to Britain and Europe to cover shortfalls from reduced consumption of Russian oil?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 14:31 Comments || Top||

#15  And it occurs to me that we have problems every year as we change over to summer formulas from winter formulas. Any chance the current problem is at least partially connected to that?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2022 14:40 Comments || Top||

#16  yes, and the next regularly-scheduled refinery fire
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 14:41 Comments || Top||

#17  TW

1. Impossible to say because oil is bought and resold and resold so a barrel that was once Russian owned could go through several owners and eventually become English owned despite the boycott..

2. However, since early April to mid May, US crude stocks have decreased by about 15M barrels. This is a time when stocks are usually increasing to get ready for higher gasoline consumption in the summer.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/22/2022 14:43 Comments || Top||

#18  If big oil does not build refineries to keep pace, they can keep the prices artificially high. Also why they are constantly shut down for maintenance.
Posted by: Slappy || 05/22/2022 15:28 Comments || Top||

#19  Fuel and energy shortages are driven by an abundance of regulation.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/22/2022 15:42 Comments || Top||

#20  ...I work with truckers - long haul and local - on daily basis, and they've been talking about diesel shortages for a couple weeks now.

Where I expect the problem to absolutely jump up and bite us in the ass is when the truckers flatly refuse to lose any more money - and that's coming. For instance, if it costs 5$ a mile to run the truck, but the baby food manufacturer is only paying $2, it's not going to matter how much the Air Force flies in.

It won't go anywhere.

Gonna be a long summer.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/22/2022 16:05 Comments || Top||

#21  Just paid 5 bucks a gallon for 89 octane.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/22/2022 16:35 Comments || Top||

#22  Texas and Louisiana should prioritize their own states for fuel. The rest of you can have our leftovers, except for California. You can figure out how to do things without relying on other states.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 05/22/2022 16:46 Comments || Top||

#23  Owner operator of several tractors paid $150. dollars for diesel Super Max. His tractors use $1000 dollars worth a day. Said he has all the equipment to make his own bio diesel. Trucker traveled out west and didn't have to shift gears on local fuel but having filled out west had to shift many times because of the poor quality of fuel. This garbage fuel is making its way to the east. Speculation currently is $10 dollars/gal mid summer. Should they put price caps expect closed stations as no fuel will be shipped losing money doing so.
Posted by: Dale || 05/22/2022 16:48 Comments || Top||

#24  #22 Now that's what I call thinking. Sign me up.
Posted by: Matt || 05/22/2022 16:50 Comments || Top||

#25  Just remember the Feds make more money in taxes on gasoline and diesel than the oil companies make in profits from drilling refining transporting and selling gasoline and diesel
About $0.18 per gallon to the feds and $0.04 to your local price gouging money grubbing oil company
If the government was really concerned about gas prices they would suspend federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel until inflation was under control
After all diesel prices are driving food prices
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 05/22/2022 18:39 Comments || Top||

#26  If the government was really concerned

I think that's your problem, right there...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 19:02 Comments || Top||

#27  So all those suggestions by the Brandon administration to buy electric vehicles isn't panning out as hoped?
Posted by: Raj || 05/22/2022 19:45 Comments || Top||


Europe
French dijon mustard supply hit by climate and rising costs, say producers
[TheGuardian] Poor seed harvests have led to empty shelves at supermarkets in France and global shortages.
Oh no! Whatever will I do if I can’t get my special green tarragon mustard imported directly from France?? But after several years of Yellow Vest, Black Bloc and anti-Covid shutdown riots, it’s a wonder France is still producing anything at all.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's an non-issuer. Most of the mustard seeds used in the French Dijon mustard making comes from Canada.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 05/22/2022 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Climate change - destroying everything in its path.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/22/2022 10:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I’m sure 11 Congress Critters made a killing in the avocado futures market months ago. The rest of us continue to buy whatever condiments look good due to their endcap positioning at the grocery. Johnsonville Meats will probably complete some secret study that will be released internally to the boredom of all recipients. The hardcore Allinskyites will search a long time not to let this mustard crisis go to waste.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 17:27 Comments || Top||


Government Corruption
The IRS backlog saga...
[FoxNews] An audit of the Internal Revenue Service found staffers destroyed 30 million taxpayer documents, as they faced a massive backlog.
Always keep a copy of everything you send them as well as post office receipts, just in case.
However, the tax collection agency says no taxpayers were adversely affected by the destruction.
Clearly the IRS trusts that most taxpayers are pretty honest.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration made three recommendations for the IRS to improve its processing of paper tax forms and promote more e-filing. However, the IRS disagreed with two of the recommendations.

"This audit was initiated because the IRS’s continued inability to process backlogs of paper-filed tax returns contributed to management’s decision to destroy an estimated 30 million paper-filed information return documents in March 2021," says the TIGTA report signed by Michael E. McKenney, the deputy inspector general for audit. "The IRS uses these documents to conduct post-processing compliance matches to identify taxpayers who do not accurately report their income."

The IRS issued a public statement last week regarding the inspector general report first released on May 4.

"There were no negative taxpayer consequences as a result of this action," the IRS statement says. "Taxpayers or payers have not been and will not be subject to penalties resulting from this action."

The destroyed tax documents included W-2 forms and 1099 forms, according to the inspector general. The IRS responded to the inspector general with inaccurate responses, according to the report.

Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Took them a month-and-a-half to process and cash my estimated quarterly tax payment.
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2022 7:30 Comments || Top||

#2  You owe them money, firm pay date is established with late fines and penalties.

They owe you money, no such rules apply.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 7:50 Comments || Top||

#3  About the same here, Frank.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/22/2022 7:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Add IRS to the soup. All agencies have huge labor shortage. I wounder if and when they farm this work out to China. Even protest groups are showing the same problem. People don't want to work. Street people the new normal. No family, no belonging, and no basic social abilities.
Posted by: Dale || 05/22/2022 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  management’s decision to destroy an estimated 30 million paper-filed information return documents

Wonder how many of those were upper 10 percenters? from Blue States?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/22/2022 8:18 Comments || Top||

#6  Smaller workforces and increased reliance on computerized filing have failed to reduce the IRS backlog. 80,000 new employees urgently needed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 8:34 Comments || Top||

#7  I'd imagine the only two ways to get audited is to be obviously breaking the law or to be a designated Enemy of the State™.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 9:01 Comments || Top||

#8  /\ If you are reading this comment, you are listed as the latter category in comment number seven above.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 9:05 Comments || Top||

#9  They still haven't processed the paper return I sent it some 7 months later. Sure as fuck cashed the check as fast as they could.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/22/2022 9:10 Comments || Top||

#10  Be advised, number 9 clearly confirms number 6.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 9:13 Comments || Top||

#11 

Why is the IRS behind?
Since they don't seem to bother investigate anything but GOP / Right Wing groups.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/22/2022 11:36 Comments || Top||

#12  https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2022/03/irs-brings-teleworking-staff-back-to-office-in-phased-reentry-starting-in-may/

Just now starting to return to office work, so consider the backlog as a testament to semi-retirement as a productivity standard.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/22/2022 12:58 Comments || Top||

#13  My belief is that only the dregs of the Obama crowd is participating in the third term. Competent Obamites are out making big money off their connections in the private sector. You would think that the Department of Theft would be the highest priority. I am convinced that Lean Manufacturing principles could take care of this issue. I am also convinced that no Lean expert would be interested in the project. IRS work is kind of like perfecting a jock itch remedy; nobody wants to be involved in the disgusting nature of improving this particular process.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 17:56 Comments || Top||

#14  "What happened to Preparations A-G?"
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 18:01 Comments || Top||

#15  Old product. I guess Manscape is new.
Posted by: Super Hose || 05/22/2022 18:07 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
'Imagine The Compliance': Pfizer CEO Pitches Davos Elites On WiFi Microchip Pills
[Zero] Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla may have forgotten he was on camera this week, as he dazzled the audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos with fantasies of ingestible computer chips that signal authorities when a drug has been digested.

"It is a, basically biological chip that is in the tablet. And once we take the tablet and dissolves into the stomach, sends a signal that you took the table. So imagine the applications of that - the compliance. The insurance companies know that the medicines patients should take, they take them.

Reactions to Bourla's dystopian pitch were about what one would expect - though Pfizer's defenders chimed in claiming it could be used in "specific" conditions such as 'schizophrenia and cancers' to assure compliance.

Right Said Fred is too sexy for Pfizer's dystopia:

Arcgis and Geotag 4.0
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 03:11 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like he's leaving Costco and is heading to his car.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 4:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Coming soon: YouTube video of how to make a pill dissolving solution with stuff from under your sink.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/22/2022 7:33 Comments || Top||

#3  I foresee "Home EMP Generators".

I could probably build a small 'pill-sized' unit, including appropriate shielding, right now from stuff accumulated over the years.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/22/2022 7:49 Comments || Top||

#4  And if you don't comply they can or cause a fuss send a signal and give you one of those diseases the've been working on in Ukraine... oops...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/22/2022 8:10 Comments || Top||

#5  And if you don't comply, or cause a fuss, they can send a signal and give you one of those diseases the've been working on in Ukraine... oops...

(5am posting is seldom pretty...)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/22/2022 8:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Our records indicate your daily caloric intake exceeds the current WHO mandated maximums.

Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 8:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Stolen quote:
"In the future, everyone will be re-pilled. However, for some it will have to be in suppository form".
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/22/2022 8:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Mark of the beast territory.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/22/2022 12:01 Comments || Top||

#9  /\ Yes DV. If we've not crossed over onto the other side, we're surely approaching the turn-off.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/22/2022 12:37 Comments || Top||

#10  There is an actual valid use for this technology.

Many people are released from treatment for mental disease promising to take specific meds.

Like any technology, misuse is possible.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/22/2022 17:15 Comments || Top||



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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2022-05-22
  4 PRC Generals executed over last weeks audio about war mobilization
Sat 2022-05-21
  Russia will create 12 new military units near the western borders
Fri 2022-05-20
  Russia Withdraws Forces From Posts In Syria's Lattakia And Homs
Thu 2022-05-19
  Arrested Kidnappers Confessed To Raping New Bride Multiple Times
Wed 2022-05-18
  Terrorists Abduct 30 Passengers Along Abuja-Kaduna Highway, Shoot Others
Tue 2022-05-17
  Reversing Trump, Biden acts to deploy US troops to Somalia
Mon 2022-05-16
  Battle rages for the region of Donbas
Sun 2022-05-15
  Ten die in Buffalo, NY supermarket shooting
Sat 2022-05-14
  Cairo sentences 25 to 15 years in prison, acquits 12 in Rabaa dispersal case
Fri 2022-05-13
  Violent protests all over Iran sparked by massive price increases.
Thu 2022-05-12
  Ukraine thwarts Russian battalion's river-crossing and destroys at least 58 vehicles
Wed 2022-05-11
  Camps Discovered in Russia House Thousands of Ukrainians Forcibly Removed From Homeland
Tue 2022-05-10
  Sri Lanka PM quits as violence kills 3, injures 150
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  At least 11 Egyptian soldiers killed in armed attack in Sinai
Sun 2022-05-08
  Islamic Emirate Announces Rules for Women’s Covering

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