Jul 29 Buonasera Mag
Jul 29 Buonasera Mag
Day 156: Russian missile attacks, evacuation Donbas, UA’s anti-corruption prosecutor, Russian filtration camps,Estonia, Germany, Belarus, Tokariuk Spaces—articles: Reuters, Lautman, Frum, BBC, Avdeeva
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution on Wed calling for Blinken to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism for actions in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine that resulted “in the deaths of countless innocent men, women and children”.
Stories we’re following…
The Ukrainian counteroffensive in the country’s south is “gathering momentum”, according to British defence and intelligence officials. Ukraine has virtually cut off the Russian-occupied southern city of Kherson, leaving thousands of Russian troops stationed near the Dnieper River “highly vulnerable” and isolated, the UK ministry of defence said.
Institute for the Study of War: Russian proxies withhold humanitarian aid to force civilians to cooperate in Mariupol. The experts said Russian proxies are leveraging food aid and other humanitarian assistance to force the population to “demine and clear rubble” in Mariupol.
At least 25 missiles have been launched from Belarus on Ukraine today early morning within just an hours.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that Russia deliberately hit the prison in order to hide the traces of torture and murder of prisoners of war. The prison in Yelenovka was housing Ukrainian service personnel who had been held there since the fall of Mariupol.
Horrifying footage appears to show Russian captors castrating a Ukrainian prisoner of war. A second video has appeared on Telegram showing that the Ukrainian POW was shot in the head after the castration.
Residents of Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region have been urged to evacuate. “Today the time has come to liberate Russian cities, founded by Russians: Kyiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk,” Denis Pushilin said on Telegram.
Ukraine confirmed a new head of its specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, Oleksandr Klymenko on Thursday, responding to a European Union request as it seeks EU membership, Reuters reports.
Ukraine ready for grain exports to resume but waiting for UN approval. An announcement from the Lloyd’s of London insurer Ascot and broker Marsh that it had launched marine cargo and war insurance for grain and food products moving from the Black Sea ports, removing a hurdle to getting shipments under way.
Sergey Lavrov: “Russia, as any other self-respectful country has the right to determine itself what is good for its security and what is not. In that case, NATO members led by the United States, opted to decide for us what is good for the Russian Federation.”
Poles launch fundraiser to buy 3 evacuation helicopters for Ukraine. The “Arming Ukraine” initiative aims to purchase three MI-2 AM-1 helicopters, which will help evacuate the wounded faster, according to the campaign.
Ukrainian Rada adopts law on special status of Poles in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada passed a law establishing legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens residing in Ukraine on July 28, European Pravda reports.
Germany will deliver 16 BIBER bridge-layer tanks to Ukraine.
NYT: a potentially deadly bacteria was found for the first time in water and soil samples in the U.S., prompting the CDC to alert doctors and public health experts throughout the country on Wednesday to take it into consideration when examining patients.
US official: There is bipartisan support to send long-range missiles to Ukraine. Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN that there is bipartisan support for sending Ukraine ATACMS, missiles that can strike as far as 280 km.
Estonia imposes visa restrictions on Russians, Belarusians. The Estonian government on July 28 limited the granting of temporary residence permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens and halted the issue of study visas to Russian citizens, Estonian news outlet ERR reported.
The U.S. offered a prisoner swap to Russia: Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer, for Brittney Griner, the W.N.B.A. star, and Paul Whelan, a former Marine.
The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point yesterday, sticking to its aggressive campaign to rein in inflation.
EU will more than double electricity imports from Ukraine. Starting July 30, the ENTSO-E association, which represents the EU electricity transmission operators, allowed a 2.5-fold increase in the export of Ukrainian electricity, or 250 megawatts, to European countries.
The German government’s tough stance towards Russia since the war in Ukraine began is coming under pressure at home. Some German conservative leaders have voiced scepticism about the west’s strategy, as opinion polls indicate that around half of the German population thinks the sanctions are hurting Germany more than Russia.
On an official trip to visit Austrian Chancellor Nehammer Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán was booed by protestors over his inflammatory and openly racist speech last weekend railing against “mixed-race” nations.
Reuters Report: How Russia spread a secret web of agents across Ukraine
Now a Reuters investigation has found that Russia’s success at Chornobyl was no accident, but part of a long-standing Kremlin operation to infiltrate the Ukrainian state with secret agents.
Five people with knowledge of the Kremlin’s preparations said war planners around President Vladimir Putin believed that, aided by these agents, Russia would require only a small military force and a few days to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration to quit, flee or capitulate.
Lautman, In Shadow of War, Moscow Pushing for 'Spy' Swap
Over the past week, Russian state media has featured close to a dozen articles on the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, who’s currently serving a 25-year sentence in an Illinois federal prison known for holding inmates convicted on terrorism and other serious, related crimes. The Kremlin seems to be signaling a new effort to get him back, with a “hostage exchange” in mind. Its pawns: former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, currently serving a 16-year sentence for espionage and Trevor Reed, another former U.S. marine convicted on charges of resisting arrest after a drunk-driving stop in 2019.
Schmitt, Don’t Stop Now — Tech Sanctions Can Wreck Putin’s War Machine
But there are other measures to consider — namely technology restrictions — that are also underway to limit Russia’s ability to wage war while isolating it internationally across a variety of fields. Of note is the system of export controls deployed across many democratic states aimed at limiting the Kremlin’s ability to source key technologies to enable its war effort.
Julia Davis reports…
BBC, Another criminal case was brought against Vladimir Kara-Murza. Now for participating in the activities of an undesirable organization
Against the politician Vladimir Kara-Murza (included in the register of natural persons-"foreign agents") another criminal case has been initiated, his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said. He is suspected of participating in the activities of an undesirable organization. Now the politician is in a pre-trial detention center on a case of spreading deliberately false information about the Russian armed forces. Before that, he was placed under administrative arrest, accused of disobeying the police.
Maria Avdeeva reports…
Ukrainian champions
Don’t forget Belarus…
A Kyiv Independent special report: in his native Belarus, 30-year-old tech entrepreneur Andrey Poznyak was once a political prisoner. He spent six months behind bars for protesting Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s brutal crackdown on civil society following fraudulent elections in 2020. Poznyak later made his way to Ukraine, along with thousands of fellow techies, and in the fall of 2021 founded a startup called Peech. Read Kyiv Independent’s story on how Peech attracts half a million dollars from Ukrainian investors.
Government of Poland, Special services have identified Russian filtration camps
The apparatus of repression aimed at Ukrainian society was organized on the basis of a system of prisons located in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The Russians use the former headquarters of local Ukrainian authorities, in particular the local police and the State Migration Service of Ukraine. In regions where the Russians have not managed to adapt buildings taken over as a result of aggression, filtration sites are organized in the form of towns and tent camps.
Frum, Trump Just Told Us His Master Plan
Trump sketched out a vision that a new Republican Congress could enact sweeping new emergency powers for the next Republican president. The president would be empowered to disregard state jurisdiction over criminal law. The president would be allowed to push aside a “weak, foolish, and stupid governor,” and to fire “radical and racist prosecutors”—racist here meaning “anti-white.” The president could federalize state National Guards for law-enforcement duties, stop and frisk suspects for illegal weapons, and impose death sentences on drug dealers after expedited trials.